Kentucky basketball is all-in on freshmen and the reason has nothing to do with NIL

John Calipari has added two more players to his Kentucky basketball roster. A three-star forward from Florida, Jordan Burks committed to the Wildcats on June 12. A three-star guard from Indiana, Joey Hart signed on over the weekend.

That gives the Cats nine scholarship players heading into next month’s trip to Canada for the 2023 GLOBL JAM and then the 2023-24 college campaign. Seven of the nine are freshmen. Two are sophomores.

There’s still a chance Antonio Reeves could return once he completes summer course work at Illinois State to earn his degree. If Reeves instead transfers, that’s it. Without a late addition, UK would enter October practices with no juniors, no seniors and no one from the transfer portal.

Why? The reason is simple and has nothing to do with whether or not Kentucky is behind the times when it comes to name, image and likeness opportunities.

To this point, no experienced player wants to come to Kentucky and sit behind Calipari’s No. 1-ranked group of stellar freshmen.

That’s especially true given Cal’s history. Some coaches are skittish about playing true freshmen. Cal isn’t one of them. He has no problem going all-in.

In 2009-10, Cal’s first season, John Wall averaged 34.8 minutes per game; Eric Bledsoe 30.3; DeMarcus Cousins 23.5. Brandon Knight averaged 35.9, Terrence Jones 31.5 and Doron Lamb 28.4 on his 2010-11 Final Four team. Marquis Teague averaged 32.6, Anthony Davis 32.0 and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 31.1 on his 2011-12 national title team.

The list goes on: Archie Goodwin (31.8), Nerlens Noel (31.9), Julius Randle (30.8), James Young (32.4), Aaron Harrison (32.6), Andrew Harrison (31.7), Jamal Murray (35.2), Malik Monk (32.1), De’Aaron Fox (29.6), Bam Adebayo (30.1), Kevin Knox (32.4); Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (33.7), PJ Washington (27.4), Tyler Herro (32.6), Keldon Johnson (30.7), Tyrese Maxey (34.5), Brandon Boston (30.4).

The blueprint for the upcoming season figures to be the same, what with Calipari boasting three of 247Sports’ top 10 class of 2023 prospects, four of the top 20 and five of the top 50. Justin Edwards is currently at No. 3 nationally, followed by Aaron Bradshaw at No. 4, DJ Wagner at No. 6 and Robert Dillingham at No. 16. Reed Sheppard is at No. 41.

Those players are going to play. They were going to play before both Oscar Tshiebwe and Chris Livingston left their names in Thursday’s NBA Draft and Reeves decided he would consider his options before deciding what jersey he wants to wear for his final college season.

That has put Calipari in a Catch-22 situation. Sure, he’d love to add some experience to next season’s roster, but he also loves his bounty of newcomers. After all, the coach made several moves over the past few years to improve Kentucky’s recruiting — a “Back to the Future” effort — which paid off handsomely with this year’s haul.

So, with transfer portal possibilities limited, Cal has returned to the freshman route to fill out his roster. A 6-foot-9 forward who has bounced around the map, Burks is No. 172 on the 247Sports list. A 6-4 guard who originally committed to UCF, Hart might also need time before he’s ready to make a significant contribution.

Then there’s Somto Cyril, a 7-foot center currently playing at Overtime Elite in Atlanta, who is ranked No. 45 by 247Sports for the class of 2024. Reports say Cyril is considering (a) reclassifying to the class of 2023 and (b) coming to Kentucky.

Those in the know claim Cyril could be a steal. He could add needed frontcourt depth, especially considering sophomore Ugonna Onyenso’s inexperience — the 6-11 Nigerian played in 16 of 34 games last season — and Bradshaw’s health status. (Bradshaw might or might not have a broken foot.)

Then again, Cyril would bring Calipari’s freshman total to eight, a large number even by his standards. Will it work? Only time will tell. The college landscape has changed drastically since Calipari’s one-and-done teams dominated the sport his first six years at Kentucky. Then again, he’s won big with impossibly young teams before.

This time, he really doesn’t have a choice.

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