Less than a week after losing six players to the NBA draft, including four who were lottery selections, Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari hardly sounded depressed Monday morning.
In fact, he gave the rest of the Southeastern Conference fair warning.
“I’m excited about our team,” Calipari said on a conference call. “I think our backcourt should be one of the stronger backcourts in the country, even though we’ll be very young. Our frontcourt will be athletic and long at 7-foot, 6-10, 6-8 and 6-9.
“I hate to say it, but it could be crazy again.”
The Wildcats were the toast of the college courts this past winter as they pursued the first 40-0 record in major college men’s history. The Wildcats got to 38-0 with a scintillating 68-66 win over Notre Dame in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament, but their quest ended in a 71-64 loss to Wisconsin at the Final Four.