Kentucky Basketball: Biggest Changes Wildcats Will Undergo in 2015 Offseason

The college basketball season has ended, and it's time for a plethora of changes for the Kentucky basketball team. This is expected, as guys commonly declare early for the NBA draft and a new batch of stars comes to Lexington to try to win a ninth NCAA championship.

Still, this year will be slightly different, as seven players—Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Karl-Anthony Towns, Trey Lyles, Willie Cauley-Stein, Devin Booker and Dakari Johnson—declared for the draft. Usually, only two-to-four guys leave the program, but next year we'll truly see a completely different team.

Let's take a look at the biggest changes the Wildcats will undergo in the 2015 offseason.

The Loss of Slice

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Although he was there for just one year, Kentucky suffered the loss of assistant coach Barry "Slice" Rohrssen. Sure, the loss of an assistant coach doesn't seem to be that important, but Rohrssen was huge in recruiting, especially in the New Jersey/New York area.

Slice left to join Chris Mullin's staff at St. John's, which made sense since he's from the area and good friends with Mullin. Rohrssen worked with the big men during his year at Kentucky and was pivotal in Karl-Anthony Towns' development into a star late in the year.

According to CollegeBasketballTalk's Scott Phillips, Rohrssen was the key recruiter for Cheick Diallo, so his absence would now seem to put Kentucky on the outside for the Class of 2015 McDonald's All-American. With Rohrssen out at Kentucky, expect head coach John Calipari to promote Tony Barbee to his spot.

A Different Type of Point Guard

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When you think of Calipari-type point guards, the uber-athletic, bigger guard who isn't necessarily a great shooter comes to mind. You start to think of Andrew Harrison, Tyreke Evans, John Wall and Derrick Rose instead of the traditional point guard.

Well, that's going to change this offseason, as Tyler Ulis is now the starting point guard for Kentucky.

Fans who love Ulis already will just have to get used to seeing a different type of offensive game. The Lima, Ohio, native is the epitome of a pass-first point guard who constantly looks to attack and kick and get his teammates open.

Still, that doesn't mean he can't hit big shots throughout the year and have fans looking for him to score more.

It will be an easy transition for most fans due to Ulis' likability. However, it's still a major change that Big Blue Nation will have to get used to. In the last couple of years, fans saw Andrew Harrison use his size and strength to get to the rim and overpower smaller defenders.

A Different Type of One-and-Done

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When you think of one-and-done players at Kentucky, it's a McDonald's All-American freshman coming into Lexington. What Kentucky really doesn't do is go after a graduate transfer.

That's expected to change this offseason, as according to Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal, Calipari and his staff are making a play for Mike Thorne Jr., who is transferring from UNC-Charlotte. There's only been one other graduate transfer under Calipari at Kentucky (Julius Mays in 2012).

Thorne averaged 10.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in 26.1 minutes per game last year for the 49ers. Ironically enough, Thorne was a no-star recruit coming out of high school, which usually means Kentucky isn't interested. Getting another big man in the rotation is vital for Kentucky this offseason.