Bradford: The one-and-done era needs to end in Lexington

The beginning of every season in Lexington always sees John Calipari pressing the restart button.

Eight years into one of college basketball’s most illustrious jobs, Calipari has coached eight different sets of personalities and skill sets, making life as the Kentucky head basketball coach a double-edged sword of sorts. Nobody in the nation successfully recruits more upper-echelon talent than Calipari, but no coach is also forced to deal with the dramatic roster overhaul the Wildcats experience during every offseason.

This drastic change in personnel can be attributed to the type of player Coach Cal appeals to. Considering his sales pitch—which consists of him essentially saying “If you come to Kentucky, I’ll get you in the NBA after one season”—and the program’s iconic status in collegiate athletics, it’s no wonder five-star recruits flock to Lexington.

But while this method of recruiting has ushered the Wildcats out of their dark ages during the mid-to-late 2000s and into an era of annual Final Four contention, the fact that Coach Cal has only delivered one championship is disappointing, and the primary source for the lack of hardware is the breed of player he brings onto the hardwood.

As mentioned before, there is never a shortage of talent on a Kentucky roster. This current version of the Wildcats features young studs such as Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox and Isaiah Briscoe, players who would be the top dog on 99.99 percent of teams in the country.

But the writing is on the wall. With Tuesday evening’s 82-80 loss to the sporadic Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Wildcats showcased what they’re destined for. Over the remainder of the regular season, Kentucky will drop a handful of games it shouldn’t, win a few games in March, but ultimately succumb to a more experienced and disciplined squad when it matters most.

As a Big Blue Nation disciple, I’ve seen it play out too many times.

In 2010, Calipari’s first season in Lexington, there was never a doubt who the best team in the country was. Led by John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky scorched its way to a 32-2 record prior to March Madness. The Wildcats eventually reached the Elite Eight, where West Virginia exposed the Cats’ lack of maturity. Instead of milking what got them there—Wall driving to the basket or feeding Cousins in the post—Kentucky became hyper-obsessed with knocking down a three-pointer when it became evident early on the team simply didn’t have its stroke. In the end, the Wildcats missed what seemed like their first 500 three-point attempts before drilling one late in the second half. At that point, though, the Mountaineers had the game wrapped up.

After a pair of failed championship runs in 2011—which ended in the Final Four against UConn—and 2014—which ended in the championship game against UConn—Kentucky embarked on a historic 2015 campaign, as the Wildcats threatened to become the first team to trudge their way through a season undefeated since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. However, they became victims of their own system—platooning—against Wisconsin in the Final Four. When pressed to have one player deliver the goods, the Wildcats simply weren’t prepared to abandon the system, even though they had a player in Karl Anthony-Towns perfectly capable of taking a game over.

As a side note, what did the 2011 and 2014 UConn Huskie teams have in common? Experienced guard play, an edge the Wildcats couldn’t overcome.

The exception for Kentucky is the 2012 season when the Wildcats rode the wave of Anthony Davis’ dominance to a championship. But that season was an outlier because Davis is an athlete of such rare quality and skill that he transcended his freshman tag. His skill set was so astronomically greater than everybody else’s that he could win a game a multitude of ways, whether it was dialing in on scoring, rebounding or blocking shots.

On average, a highly touted recruit under Calipari flashes brilliance, but isn’t so special that they’re dependable on a night-to-night basis. Just imagine Kentucky bringing in a team with the perfect blend of talent and experience every season. That wouldn’t be fair for college basketball because the Wildcats would hoist the championship trophy every season. Kentucky is already the gold standard program in college basketball, but a championship every season might elevate them to the NBA in place of the Brooklyn Nets.

The antidote for Coach Cal is simple. It’s time to start recruiting a new type of player. As appealing as those five meaningless stars are, the players who’ve obtained them are more than likely one-and-done. As long as those players take the floor in Rupp Arena, the Wildcats will always play a brand of inconsistent basketball that ultimately leaves the team ill-prepared to win a championship.

Edited by Robert Hughes

Featured image by Keith Allison