Kentucky Basketball: Complete Roster, Season Preview for 2014-15 Wildcats

Hype is an inescapable reality of sports, and college basketball is no different.

We are always looking for the next great thing, be it a superstar freshman, a veteran finally turning the corner or an entire team dominating a season. While hype is often unjustified, the 2014-15 Kentucky Wildcats are built to live up to the astronomically high expectations.

Talent wins championships, and the Wildcats have it in spades.

They are ranked No. 1 in the country in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls, are fresh off a run to the national championship game and brought back a number of key pieces. Throw in yet another loaded recruiting class to the recipe, and you have yourself the top team in the country.

Now the question is whether John Calipari and his daunting squad can deliver. Read on to find out in the Kentucky season preview.

Key Newcomers

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Karl Towns

Karl Towns is the headliner of another incredible Calipari recruiting class.

The 6’11” big man can do a little bit of everything, from scoring on the low block with impressive footwork to swatting shots and controlling the boards on the defensive end. He will contend for SEC Freshman of the Year and perhaps even National Freshman of the Year if and when he reaches his potential.

Trey Lyles

Trey Lyles is another cog in a loaded Kentucky frontcourt, but his versatility will help him see the court. 

He is long enough at 6’10” to contend shots down low and compete with starting centers, but he is athletic enough to play forward in a bigger rotation. He has soft touch on a mid-range jumper and can score in the post.

Tyler Ulis

Tyler Ulis will be the 5’9” sparkplug who thrills fans with his speed in the open floor and tenacity on the defensive end. 

He will spell the Harrison brothers for stretches at a time and look to set up his teammates with crisp passes. Ulis’ ball-handling skills allow him to penetrate and kick, so the surrounding shooters need to be ready.

Devin Booker

Devin Booker is often the overlooked member of this class, but his shooting ability and athleticism will help him contribute from the wing.

When opponents double-team Towns, Lyles, Willie Cauley-Stein and the rest of the Kentucky bigs, Booker will be ready to fire from long range. He is also an impressive defender who uses that athleticism to stay in front of opposing guards.

Key Returners

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Aaron Harrison and Andrew Harrison

The key returners slide has been emptier in past years with Calipari, which is what makes this year’s team so dangerous. It has some veteran leadership to go along with the impressive freshmen.

Aaron and Andrew Harrison struggled with turnovers and shot selection early in their freshmen seasons, but they turned the corner down the stretch. Aaron thrilled Wildcats fans across the country with a string of clutch shots in the NCAA tournament, and Andrew grew more comfortable with his role as lead guard. 

Now they have a year of experience under their collective belt. Look for the talent to really shine through.

Willie Cauley-Stein

Maybe things would have been different in the national title game if Willie Cauley-Stein had played. 

The big man is back for another season and will patrol the paint and dominate on the boards for the Wildcats. A Cauley-Stein and Towns frontcourt will be absolutely lethal in the rebounding department.

Alex Poythress

Alex Poythress is one of the most athletic players on the roster and will be more than ready to get out in transition with the Harrison brothers and Ulis.

He is more than capable of hitting from three-point range, but it is his ability to slash to the basket and finish at the rim that really stands out. Poythress is also a solid rebounder and defender on the wing.

Roster and Projected Rotation

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Here is Kentucky’s full roster from the program’s official website. This is a projected starting lineup and rotation that could very well change as the season progresses and players settle into their roles.

Starting Lineup

PG: Andrew Harrison

SG: Aaron Harrison

F: Alex Poythress

F: Karl Towns 

C: Willie Cauley-Stein

Key Bench Players 

Trey Lyles (power forward), Tyler Ulis (point guard), Dakari Johnson (center), Devin Booker (guard) and Marcus Lee (forward)

Having too much talent is a problem that any coach at any level would love, but it will be fascinating to see how Calipari utilizes his rotation. He recently said that he will rotate entire five-man units throughout the season like a hockey line shift (life with nine McDonald's All-Americans sounds rough), but his substitutions may get a bit tighter once the schedule heats up.

Kentucky’s depth is ridiculous at almost every position, but the frontcourt is absolutely loaded with options. There isn’t quite as many difference-makers on the wing, so there will be some pressure on Booker to deliver off the bench.

Biggest X-Factors

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Only One Ball

This may be a bit overblown, but the first thing that jumps out about Kentucky’s team is just how many elite players will compete for court time. 

Five-man substitutions or not, these are players who are accustomed to being serious contributors. There are only so many shots to go around, and there will be times when everyone has to put the team before their own personal statistics.

Will the Freshmen Live Up to the Hype?

When you are as talented as Kentucky’s freshmen, there is a good chance that you will live up to the hype. 

However, until we actually see it on the floor when the games count, this will be something of an unknown. It may take a bit of time for the youngsters to grow accustomed to the college game, which is why it is so important that this year’s squad has veteran leadership.

Will the Harrison Brothers Take the Next Step?

For as great as the Harrison brothers were down the stretch (especially Aaron’s shooting in the NCAA tournament), there were some growing pains during the regular season.

In an ideal world, both guards will take another step with more experience and deliver consistent results on a nightly basis. They are only sophomores, but they will be seen as leaders on this loaded team.

Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios

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Best-Case Scenario

The best-case scenario for every team in the country is theoretically a national championship, but Kentucky is one of the handful of squads that can realistically accomplish that lofty goal.

When there are nine McDonald’s All-Americans on the roster, anything short of a national championship is something of a bust. In this scenario, the freshmen will live up to the hype right away, and the returning players will take what they learned during the impressive NCAA tournament run and improve from last year.

Kentucky will cut down the nets after storming through the regular season and postseason tournaments without a loss.

Worst-Case Scenario

In this scenario, the same problems that hampered Kentucky last year during the regular season will rear their ugly heads again.

The Wildcats fail to deliver on the road and can’t handle the opponent’s best shot on a nightly basis. Andrew Harrison struggles to get all the pieces involved, and some of the highly touted freshmen grow frustrated by a lack of playing time or shots.

This team is still making the tournament even in a worst-case scenario, but it will bow out in the round of 32 after an inconsistent and frustrating season.

2014-15 Prediction

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Going undefeated in today’s college basketball world is simply an unrealistic expectation, and it’s not going to happen for the 2014-15 Kentucky Wildcats.

A schedule that includes showdowns with North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, UCLA, Louisville and Florida (potentially three times) is simply too difficult to navigate without tripping up a couple times.

While the Wildcats will not finish with an undefeated record, they will win the SEC and the SEC tournament before ultimately cutting down the nets as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. There is just an overwhelming amount of talent on this roster, and whatever fivesome Calipari has on the bench at any given time would be more than capable of advancing deep into the postseason.

That's borderline not fair.

No team in the country will be able to keep up with the Wildcats on the glass, and the guards and forwards will pick their spots to speed up the game in the open floor. There really are no glaring weaknesses for the Wildcats, which means they can afford a bad game from a few players and still win convincingly.

The Kentucky Wildcats will be your 2014-15 national champions.