One-and-done is the usual path that most players take to the NBA. With the removal of the NBA G League Ignite and other overseas programs being less keen on talents out of high school, this trend might have an uptick again.
One of the biggest programs to have benefitted from this is John Calipari's Kentucky basketball squad. However, the biggest drawback with a young squad full of freshmen stars is their chemistry heading into March Madness. Jay Wright saw this problem with the Rob Dillingham-led Wildcats as they crumbled against Oakland.
Jay Wright pointed out that this unfortunate first-round March Madness upset could spell the end of the one-and-done along with the stain it leaves on John Calipari's legacy, via Mitch Moss of VSiN Live.
“Number one, personally for Cal, he loves Pittsburgh. He takes pride in being a Pittsburgh guy. This really hurts him personally, and I feel for him.
“Number two, the era of taking these young freshmen and trying to play against older players is over. I think he did a phenomenal job with these guys to get them to be as successful as they were. You can see they're playing against grown men,” the veteran analyst discussed.
The stars in the Kentucky basketball system were primarily freshmen. Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard may have been big names entering the NBA Draft, but they paled in comparison to their seniors.
Antonio Reeves was the one who knocked down 11 out of his 18 field-goal attempts for 27 points. Tre Mitchell, another senior, notched a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds to keep the Wildcats afloat.
A problem in the system, not the Kentucky HC's fault
Jay Wright then went on to declare that Kentucky primarily lost due to their lack of veteran acumen compared to Oakland.
“The guys in Kentucky will be far better pros than any of these guys in Oakland or any of these guys in the tournament. But they are not as good college basketball players. At this point in their career, they are not as disciplined yet as the guys from Oakland,” he said
The person who knocked Coach John Calipari's squad out of March Madness just so happened to be a senior. Jack Gohlke caught fire in the middle of the game. He shot exclusively from beyond the arc and knocked down 10 out of his 20 attempts. This and two successful free-throw attempts added up to 32 points, which was enough to get Oakland the win.
While all of the problems compounded against Kentucky, Wright posits that it is not at all the Wildcats head honcho's wrongdoing that spelled their doom.
“It's not Cal's fault. It's that they're 18 years old, and they are in this era where everyone is telling them how great they are, just show up in college, and you're going to win. It doesn't happen that way. The more the guys stay in college because of the NIL, it's going to be tougher for young teams like this to be successful,” he concluded.
Kentucky has not been lucky in the NCAA Tournament at all. They missed the tournament in 2021, and the deepest run they have had since then was a round of 32 appearance last year. Will they change up their recruitment scheme in favor of deeper runs?
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