Calipari on Shaedon Sharpe’s status at Kentucky: ‘He plans on being here next year.’

For the first time since it became public that star recruit Shaedon Sharpe could be eligible for the NBA Draft this year, Kentucky Coach John Calipari commented on the newcomer’s status.

Calipari said Friday that he expects Sharpe to be at UK next season, despite a report from ESPN on Thursday stating that the 18-year-old could apply for early-entry status to the 2022 NBA Draft.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Calipari said of the report. “He plans on being here next year. He’s watching whether I play him or not this year — if he’s ready to be able to be in games, I’ll put him in. He’s a great kid, and he’s doing well. And he’s going to make practices even better. He’s only been here two weeks.

“But, at the end of the day, you know I’m going to be for kids. That’s how I do this.”

Calipari’s Friday press conference was unusually short due to travel issues ahead of Saturday’s game at Auburn, according to the UK coach. That was the extent of his comments on Sharpe’s status.

ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony reported Thursday that Sharpe would be eligible to apply for early-entry status for the 2022 NBA Draft, which would allow him to move on to the league a year earlier than originally expected.

Sharpe — a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Ontario — was the No. 1 prospect in the 2022 class, according to every major recruiting service, before he decided to enroll in classes at Kentucky early and join the Wildcats for the end of this season.

Even then, it was assumed that Sharpe would not be eligible for the NBA Draft until 2023 since he was not considered a high school graduate by the time the current NBA season had already started.

Though Sharpe does fulfill the age requirement for eligibility in the 2022 draft — he turns 19 in late May — he also has to be one NBA season removed from high school graduation, according to league rules. It was confirmed this week that Sharpe had already earned the necessary high school credits to graduate by the start of the 2021-22 NBA season, and that is why he’s expected to be considered a draft-eligible player in 2022.

Sharpe’s basketball mentor and grassroots coach, Dwayne Washington, told the Herald-Leader in late October — acknowledging then the possible plan to enroll early at Kentucky — that he wasn’t sure if Sharpe would be eligible for the 2022 draft and said at the time that such a path was “not an option,” even if he was eligible.

Washington said then that the plan would be for Sharpe to enroll in classes at Kentucky early, practice with the team, work on his strength and conditioning, and be better prepared to make an immediate impact at the beginning of the 2022-23 season.

Since those comments, both Calipari and Washington have left the door open for Sharpe to play for Kentucky this season, though the UK coach said a couple of weeks ago that the Wildcats freshman was “a ways away” from being able to contribute in college games.

Washington spoke to the Herald-Leader at length Friday afternoon, confirming that Sharpe still plans to play for Kentucky next season and touching on a number of topics, including his NBA Draft status.

“He’s expecting to play next year,” he said. “Nothing is new here.”

247Sports analyst Travis Branham, who has closely followed Sharpe’s recruitment, reclassification and the behind-the-scenes workings of his draft status, told the Herald-Leader on Thursday that he expects him to enter the 2022 NBA Draft.

“I would be shocked if he’s here next season,” he said. “I would be absolutely shocked.”

Shaedon Sharpe’s draft status

Branham, who also handles the NBA Draft projections for 247Sports, said Sharpe would “definitely” be included as a top-10 prospect in his next update. He said Sharpe is one of the top-tier players in the entire draft from a talent perspective.

“Talent-wise, top four. Easily,” Branham said. “He could be in the top three, in any order of Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren and Shaedon. And then I would put Paolo (Banchero) after those three when it comes to sheer talent.”

Givony ranked Sharpe as the No. 6 player in his updated top 100 rankings Thursday, behind Holmgren, Banchero, Smith, Purdue’s Jaden Ivey, and Memphis big man Jalen Duren. He also offered some speculation on whether Sharpe would play for the Cats immediately.

“If Shaedon Sharpe is going to play for Kentucky this season, it will likely happen in the next 2-3 games,” Givony tweeted. “If not, he likely sits out and then has a decision to make this spring about whether to enter the NBA Draft.”

UK plays at No. 2 Auburn on Saturday, then faces Mississippi State at Rupp Arena on Tuesday before a trip to No. 7 Kansas next weekend.

There are still questions about Sharpe’s consistency on the court, and those will obviously go unanswered before the 2022 draft if he does not play for the Wildcats this season. Still, it appears he’s a safe pick to go in the lottery range of the 2022 draft if he does leave Kentucky without playing this season, and he could go as high as the top five. Calipari has traditionally advised his players to leave for the pros if they’re expected to be drafted so highly.

Branham said Thursday that playing for Kentucky at all this season — and possibly performing poorly under the difficult circumstances of Southeastern Conference competition with relatively little preparation — could be a risk not worth taking for the 18-year-old phenom.

“It’s a risky play,” he said. “It’s really tough to enter into SEC play — not play a single minute of college basketball until you get into SEC play. … It’s not easy going into that. And you want to talk about financial risk … you come in and you struggle, and you’re not talking top five anymore — you’re only talking top 15? — and that’s several million dollars you’re talking about.”

UK center Oscar Tshiebwe said Friday that Sharpe has been helpful to his new teammates in practice, particularly with his ability to defend starting guards TyTy Washington and Kellan Grady. Tshiebwe did say that Sharpe “does not really know the plays” on offense, understandable since he’s spent only a few days practicing with the team

“He has been great. He has been helping us,” Tshiebwe said. “… Whenever Coach thinks he’s ready, probably we’re going to see him — throw him in a game this year. But I don’t know what Coach is thinking about him. But, for us, he has been so helpful for us. He’s done really good.”