Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET the college basketball season kicks off in earnest, and No. 1 ranked Kentucky will take the court against UNC-Asheville with what is possibly the most hyped recruiting class in college basketball history. The game can be watched on ESPN 3 and fans can watch the game online by clicking this link. Kentucky backers can listen to the action on WKYM FM 101.7, while Asheville fans can catch the game on WWNC 570 AM.
Kentucky spent much of the offseason chasing after high school prospect Andrew Wiggins, who flirted with the Wildcats before taking his talents to the Kansas Jayhawks. Despite missing on Wiggins, billed as the greatest freshman prospect since Kevin Durant, they've amassed a plethora of top-notch talent.
Six of the eight freshman who have joined John Calipari's team are All-Americans, and several are projected to be taken in the top five of next year's NBA draft. Calipari wants to pump the brakes on the expectations of his youngsters, however.
"We've made strides. We're not a good team right now," Calipari said recently following an exhibition game. "We've got a nice collection of guys, but we're not a good team."
Calipari can manage expectations all he wants, but others in the know are raving. "I saw them this summer and was blown away," said ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas. "I didn't think it was possible that you could take essentially a new team every year and have it competing for a national championship. I think he's shown he cannot only recruit, he's a great coach."
With so many high-profile talents, managing egos and minutes will be a challenge for Calipari, as will getting these recruits to mesh as a team.
"The problem we have right now is we have a brand new team every year. So it's hard to say, 'OK, we're going to play these seven or eight (guys) and these five are going to play four minutes,'" Calipari said.
"No one's promised anything here. You're going to have to earn minutes."
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