Here’s what you might have missed during Kentucky’s wacky basketball offseason

It’s been more than six months since the last Kentucky basketball season ended in unceremonious fashion, a 75-69 loss to Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

That wasn’t the ending many expected this time last year, when the Wildcats were widely viewed — both inside and out of Kentucky — as a legitimate national championship contender.

Perhaps even more unexpected was the offseason that followed, a constant and chaotic series of events even by the standards of the current state of college basketball, where roster comings and goings are as commonplace as ever and general confusion rules the sport.

From the transfer portal to NBA Draft decisions to injuries to name, image and likeness negotiations to international intrigue and all points in between, it was as busy a spring, summer and early fall as ever for UK coach John Calipari, who remained mostly silent amid the turmoil.

Now, the offseason is all but over. The talking season will begin soon enough, with Big Blue Madness returning to Rupp Arena on Friday, the SEC’s media day scheduled for next week, and Calipari’s annual UK media day appearance expected to take place the week after that.

And the Wildcats’ season opener is less than a month away: Nov. 6 vs. New Mexico State in Rupp.

Before the basketball begins, here’s a look back at the highs, lows and oddities of Kentucky’s wacky offseason.

March 20: Less than 24 hours after UK’s 2022-23 season ended, Rick Pitino is officially named the new head coach at St. John’s, marking the return to the high-major level for a man who dominated basketball headlines in the Bluegrass from his arrival as Kentucky’s coach in 1989 to his scandal-plagued ouster as Louisville’s coach in 2017.

March 27: Eight days after Kentucky played its final game, the Wildcats lose their first player from the 2022-23 roster, with veteran point guard Sahvir Wheeler entering the transfer portal following a tumultuous second season with UK.

March 28: Incoming Kentucky basketball freshmen have a big night at the McDonald’s All-American Game, with D.J. Wagner earning MVP honors and fellow UK recruits Aaron Bradshaw, Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard flashing plenty of promise. Though it wouldn’t be confirmed for months, Bradshaw suffered a foot injury during the all-star showcase that would go on to cast a cloud over the Wildcats’ summer.

March 31: After three seasons at Kentucky, veteran forward Jacob Toppin enters the NBA Draft, making it clear that he would not use his final year of college eligibility (despite not being projected as a 2023 draft pick.)

April 1: The day after Toppin’s departure, freshman guard and projected lottery pick Cason Wallace throws his name in the NBA Draft pool, marking an end to his college career after just one season.

April 4: UK’s leading backcourt scorer, Antonio Reeves, declares for the NBA Draft but leaves open the option to return to college for one more year.

April 5: Two weeks after telling the Herald-Leader that he would definitely be back in a Kentucky uniform for the 2023-24 season, freshman center Ugonna Onyenso’s name appears in the transfer portal, though neither the player nor program releases any sort of public statement on his status, adding to the confusion around his situation.

April 7: Two-time All-American and 2021-22 national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe enters the NBA Draft, though he leaves open the possibility to return for a final season of college.

April 12: Freshman forward Chris Livingston enters the NBA Draft but leaves open the option to return to college. Later that day, Ugonna Onyenso releases a statement on social media to say that he will indeed be back at Kentucky, making no reference to his brief stay in the transfer portal.

April 21: Kentucky players Daimion Collins and CJ Fredrick both enter the transfer portal.

April 24: Just three days after putting his name in the portal, CJ Fredrick finds a new home, committing to hometown school Cincinnati for his final season of college basketball.

April 26: Sahvir Wheeler becomes the second ex-Wildcat to land at a new school, committing to Washington, where he will play this season alongside former Kentucky player Keion Brooks Jr.

May 4: Kentucky’s No. 1 transfer target, Michigan center Hunter Dickinson, announces his commitment to Kansas, ending a recruitment — one in which UK was favored, for a time — that included ample public mention of Dickinson’s NIL expectations and questions over how he might coexist alongside Oscar Tshiebwe, should the Kentucky star return. Less than 30 minutes later, veteran UK big man Lance Ware enters the transfer portal. The same day, John Calipari goes on “The Dan Patrick Show,” where he makes thinly veiled references to Dickinson’s recruitment, addresses rumors around Tshiebwe’s future, and implies that he’ll see out the duration of his 10-year contract, which doesn’t end until 2029.

May 17: At the NBA Combine in Chicago, a couple of Wildcats put some rumors to rest. In interviews with the Herald-Leader at the event, Oscar Tshiebwe and Chris Livingston — both still undecided on their basketball futures — say that, if they returned to college basketball for another season, it would be with Kentucky. Both players had been subject to speculation that if they pulled their names out of the NBA Draft, they might look to play elsewhere as late transfers.

May 20: Lance Ware announces that he will transfer to Villanova. He has two seasons of college eligibility remaining.

May 22: UK announces the hire of longtime NBA assistant coach John Welch, who will join John Calipari’s staff in a player development role, among other duties. New NCAA guidelines will allow for five assistant coaches on college basketball staffs starting this season, and Welch was the first hire of the 2023 offseason.

May 25: Daimion Collins announces his transfer to LSU, meaning the two-year Kentucky player will stay in the SEC.

May 31: NBA deadline day gets wild. Decisions from Oscar Tshiebwe, Antonio Reeves and Chris Livingston all go down to the final hours, and Kentucky fans who stayed up to hear the news go to bed antsy. Both Tshiebwe and Livingston remain in the draft, ending their college careers. Reeves removes his name from consideration but doesn’t make it clear whether he’ll return to UK, leading to speculation that he might look to transfer or possibly play in a different pro league instead of coming back to college.

June 12: With four players in the NBA Draft, four players in the transfer portal, and Antonio Reeves’ status still up in the air nearly two weeks after the draft deadline, John Calipari makes his first offseason addition with the commitment of Jordan Burks, a three-star high school prospect in the class of 2023. That night, former Kentucky guard Jamal Murray helps lead the Denver Nuggets to the NBA championship.

June 17: Indiana guard Joey Hart — another three-star recruit in the high school class of 2023 — announces his commitment to Kentucky for the upcoming season.

June 21: Three weeks after NBA Draft deadline day, it’s confirmed that Antonio Reeves is back on UK’s campus and ready to join the Wildcats for the 2023-24 season. Before his return, Reeves enrolled in summer classes at Illinois State, where he spent the first three years of his college career. Reeves has not yet addressed the three-week gap of silence or how seriously he considered leaving UK during the offseason.

June 22: Cason Wallace is selected with the No. 10 overall pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, going to the Oklahoma City Thunder, while fellow freshman Chris Livingston is the 58th and final pick of the night, going to the Milwaukee Bucks. Neither Oscar Tshiebwe nor Jacob Toppin is drafted, though both signed free-agent deals — with the Pacers and Knicks, respectively — over the next 24 hours.

June 26: After missing on a few high-profile transfer targets, Kentucky lands a commitment from veteran forward Tre Mitchell, who had planned to play his fifth and final season of college basketball at West Virginia before head coach Bob Huggins’ ouster following a charge of driving under the influence.

June 28: Promising center Somto Cyril becomes Kentucky’s first commitment for the 2024 recruiting class. There had been persistent speculation that Cyril might reclassify to 2023 and join the Wildcats for the upcoming season, but he decided to stay put in the class of 2024.

June 30: John Calipari meets with local reporters for his first press conference of the offseason. The biggest news to come out of the appearance: UK’s coach confirms that Aaron Bradshaw did indeed suffer a foot injury and had decided to undergo a medical procedure that would keep him out of the Wildcats’ upcoming trip to Canada for the GLOBL JAM exhibition tournament. Calipari says he expects Bradshaw to be back for the regular season, though he makes clear that the coaching staff will not push the 19-year-old to play before he’s ready. “We will not rush him back,” he says. Calipari also indirectly addressed monthslong speculation that Bradshaw might sit out the season to preserve his NBA Draft stock or even jump to another school — Southern Cal had been mentioned — before the start of fall practices by saying multiple times that the freshman center was excited to be in Lexington and couldn’t wait to get started on the court. “He wants to play.”

July 6: UK announces the hire of longtime college assistant Chuck Martin, who was also on John Calipari’s staff at Memphis. Martin joined Kentucky’s staff as an off-campus recruiter alongside Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman, and those three will serve as on-court assistant coaches along with Bruiser Flint and John Welch.

July 11: On the eve of Kentucky’s official opener in the GLOBL JAM tournament in Toronto, returning big man Ugonna Onyenso goes down with an injury suffered in a closed-door scrimmage against Team Africa. At first, the injury doesn’t sound too serious, with John Calipari even leaving the door open for Onyenso to return to the court later in the week. Seven days later, however, Calipari confirms a medical procedure for Onyenso, who ended up joining Bradshaw on the sideline with a foot injury. Calipari announced that Onyenso would be out for “a couple of months,” a timeline that should have him healthy in time for the start of the season.

July 12: Without a true center, Kentucky plays forward Tre Mitchell at the “5” spot and beats Germany with an exciting, fast-paced style in the opener of the GLOBL JAM tournament.

July 13: UK dismantles host Canada in game two of the GLOBL JAM event as reigning Kentucky Mr. Basketball Reed Sheppard takes a star turn, an impressive performance with his parents — former UK standouts Jeff Sheppard and Stacey Reed Sheppard — in attendance.

July 15: Following a day off — much of which was spent at Drake’s mansion in the Toronto area — the Wildcats return to the court, and Antonio Reeves goes off in the final game of GLOBL JAM pool play. Reeves scores 27 points and makes eight 3-pointers in a win over Africa.

July 16: Kentucky basketball wins gold at the GLOBL JAM in another victory over Canada, this one sparked by five-star freshman Justin Edwards and his 23 points. Antonio Reeves is named the tournament’s MVP.

Aug 1: Zvonimir Ivišić, a high-upside 7-footer from Croatia, commits to Kentucky for the 2023-24 season after pulling his name out of the 2023 NBA Draft earlier in the summer. Though Ivišić was a pro player in Europe at the time of his commitment, he’s expected to be ruled eligible to play college basketball as an amateur. At the time, Ivišić was scheduled to arrive on UK’s campus by the end of August.

Aug 24: UK releases its complete non-conference schedule for the 2023-24 season, a slate that includes games against expected preseason No. 1 Kansas, along with North Carolina, Gonzaga, Miami and Louisville.

Aug. 25: It’s announced that longtime UK athletics director Mitch Barnhart has agreed to a contract extension through the 2027-28 school year. The deal includes a clause similar to one in John Calipari’s contract that would allow Barnhart to step down as AD in 2026 and remain on UK’s payroll in a “special assistant to the president” role. The contract also raises the possibility that Barnhart will hire the next men’s basketball coach at Kentucky. Calipari’s current contract runs through the 2028-29 season, but he has the ability to step down as coach and exercise his “special assistant” role at any time following the 2023-24 season.

Sept. 5: With Croatian big man Zvonimir Ivišić still not on campus amid a drawn-out admissions process, the University of Kentucky releases a public statement on the matter, citing “misinformation” regarding the situation and claiming that all parties are still working to get the recruit cleared in time for the fall semester. Meanwhile, UK fan sites, message boards and social media are in a tizzy over the lack of progress with “Big Z” — a now-popular nickname mentioned by John Calipari in an earlier press release.

Sept. 7: The SEC releases game dates for the upcoming season, setting Kentucky’s 2023-24 slate in stone. The Cats will tip off league play at Florida on Jan. 6 and travel to Knoxville on March 9 for the regular-season finale.

Sept. 14: UK announces that Big Blue Madness will take place Oct. 13 in Rupp Arena, but the annual campout for tickets won’t happen due to the ongoing renovations to Memorial Coliseum, the traditional home of the campout.

Sept. 26: Kentucky’s players hit the Joe Craft Center court for the first real practice of the 2023-24 preseason. Injured big men Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso aren’t ready to fully participate in basketball activities yet — and Zvonimir Ivišić is still not in the United States — adding to the anxiousness around UK’s frontcourt situation for the upcoming campaign.

Sept. 29: Big Blue Madness tickets are made available to Kentucky fans, who waste no time in snatching them up. It takes just 38 minutes for every seat in Rupp Arena to be claimed.

Oct. 4: Big Z is free? A UK spokesperson tells the Herald-Leader that Zvonimir Ivišić has been admitted to the university as a student, ending that uncertainty and opening the door for the Croatian center to join the team in time to become eligible for the start of the 2023-24 season … as long as the NCAA clears him to play.

Oct. 13: Big Blue Madness is here. And the offseason is over. Let the basketball begin.

Big Blue Madness

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Rupp Arena

Tickets: Sold out

TV: SEC Network

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