Calipari May Finally Have the Right Bunch for Title Run

Since John Calipari was lured away from Memphis to be the King of Kentucky he has easily had the most impressive run of recruiting in recent memory. For three years in a row he has gotten the best talent in the nation to Lexington and consequently those same players have bolted for the riches of the NBA after just one season. In two years Kentucky has had nine players drafted and that number could touch 15 after the June draft this season. Because Calipari relies on such young and inexperienced players, March has not yet yielded the ultimate result that fans in Big Blue Nation are hoping for: a national championship. The Cats fell to West Virginia in the Elite 8 in 2010 and then fell to the streaking UConn Huskies last year in the Final Four. The youth of UK has been cited as the deciding factor for both teams and many have said that unless Cal gets players who will stay a few years, Kentucky may struggle to reach the top.

This season has been no different for Kentucky as they have steamrolled opponents, won the SEC and have been frequent offenders of Sportscenter Top Plays. The freshmen are the headliners, with Anthony Davis certain to be the number one pick in June and others such as Marquis Teague and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will certainly be drafted as well. Davis is in the Player of the Year conversation after averaging 14.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.6 blocks while Kidd-Gilchrist has been impressive, averaging 11.8 points, 7.6 and 2.0 assists. Teague started slow but has improved as the season has gone on and is probably the key part to Kentucky's postseason hopes.

While the freshmen have once again been awesome for Calipari the difference this season could be the upperclassmen. Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb and Darius Miller all decided to stay on campus for at least one more year and that is the X-factor for the Cats. Whereas in the past two years UK had no experience on the roster, this season Jones, Lamb and Miller have all played in the Final Four and nothing will be new to them. It's an invaluable asset to a team and one that can't really be measured. Looking back at the last few championship teams, every single one relied on an upperclassmen as their go-to-guy. UConn went to Kemba Walker, Duke had Singler, Smith and Scheyer and North Carolina had Hansbrough. In 2003 Syracuse relied heavily on Carmelo Anthony as a freshman, but even then they had Gerry McNamara and others. The fact of the matter is this: it is hard to win six games in a row against quality opponents while playing mostly freshmen. There is just something about the veteran leadership that is essential in a win-or-go-home tournament.

I have picked UK to win the NCAA Tournament this season because they have players like Jones, Miller and Lamb. They are three guys who have been around the block and can counsel players like Davis, Teague and Kidd-Gilchrist. Perhaps Kentucky isn't battle tested due to the fact that the SEC wasn't the strongest conference, but they will face some of the toughest teams in college basketball over the course of the tournament. With the upperclassmen and freshmen combining forces, I would be surprised if John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats do not hoist the eighth championship banner in Rupp Arena next fall.