Kentucky Basketball: Complete Roster, Season Preview for 2015-16 Wildcats

Another season, another sterling recruiting class, another preseason No. 1 ranking and a not-so-healthy helping of expectations heaped on a young and mostly inexperienced Kentucky team. Just another day in the life of head coach John Calipari.

Last year was an anomaly. With six players returning that could have potentially jumped to the NBA, plus a recruiting class that eventually turned out to be a No. 1 pick and two other lottery picks, that Wildcat team was absolutely stacked from top to bottom. A quest for 40-0 was cut short in the Final Four by Wisconsin.

Now Kentucky is back to "normal," if you can call it normal. Seven players left early for the NBA, leaving the Cats with the usual grouping of holdovers who weren't quite ready and incoming freshmen who are probably already ready. With four Final Four appearances in the last five years, will this Kentucky team continue the trend?

Key Newcomers

James Crisp/Associated Press

Where to start? Since Kentucky lost so many players from last season, John Calipari was a busy man in recruiting. The team this year boasts three new 5-stars, two 4-stars, and one adorable little 3-star transfer, per 247Sports. The recruiting class ranked No. 1 according to Scout and Rivals and No. 2 according to ESPN.

You know, the usual.

Skal Labissiere — Fr.

For a coach who came into Kentucky with a reputation for pulling in standout point guards, Calipari has made his money in Lexington with big men. Labissière comes after a run of Anthony Davis, Nerlens Noel, Willie-Cauley Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns. No pressure, young blood.

Labissiere is a raw talent. He's got a slender body and is guaranteed a full season of Cal screaming at him to play tougher. He's got a nice touch around the basket, including an NBA-ready fadeaway and hook shot, but he's got to be careful about drifting away from the rim too much. 

Defensively he'll have trouble with heavier players, but his size and length will create problems for other teams. There's a good chance Kentucky won't be running their offense through Skal, but he'll make himself known in lots of different ways.

Isaiah Briscoe — Fr. 

I'm already championing the name Baby Bledsoe for Briscoe, which technically isn't fair considering Briscoe is taller than Bledsoe, but he's got the same kind of strength and fearlessness that Bledsoe did at Kentucky. He's a middle-of-the-pack shooter, but his bread and butter is going to be driving the ball. And last time I checked, Calipari runs an offense called the dribble-drive, so he should fit right in.

Briscoe has a chance to be a very good defender if he puts his mind to it. His athleticism alone makes him dangerous. 

Jamaal Murray — Fr. 

Murray is going to be fun to watch. He's not quite Steph Curry, not even a little bit, really, but his improvisation with the ball and ability to create something out of nothing reminds me a bit of the Golden State star. He's a great shooter with a quick release.

With a 6'5" frame, Murray also is the kind of player to get in there and rebound. In the exhibition game against Ottowa, he came just one assist shy of a triple-double. It's entirely possible that Murray could record just the second one in UK history this season.

Isaac Humphries — Fr.

The Thunder from Down Under arrived ahead of schedule. Humphries reclassified to this season and it's going to show. He's a not quite ready for prime-time play. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to like, but his body needs to mature and his athleticism needs to improve before he plays big minutes for Kentucky this year.

Offensively he's got a great shot. A mid-range assassin. The kind of stretch 4 that NBA teams love. But, again, he's just 17 and still growing into that 7-foot frame. He'll be good for some spot minutes this season and can contribute offensively when he's in the game, but I don't expect to see much out of him right away.

Charles Matthews — Fr.

The first member of this class to commit, Matthews has been a bit overshadowed by some of the bigger names that came after him, but make no mistake, he's going to be an important part of this team.

Matthews will be one of the best shooters on the team and has good quickness and length for his size. He should be another defensive force for a team that is going to want to play small and fast a lot of the time and pressure teams.

Mychal Mulder — Fr.

The "other" Canadian on this team along with Murray, the JUCO transfer is probably the least heralded newcomer on the team, but Calipari wanted him for a reason. Mulder can shoot the ball, although he can be a bit streaky. He probably won't lead the team in scoring any time soon, but he'll be a valuable fill-in when he needs to be.

Key Returners

James Crisp/Associated Press

Even with last year's mass exodus, there are still a handful of returning players who will provide valuable experience.

Tyler Ulis — So.

You finally get what you want Big Blue Nation! A season full of Ulis running the point. 

Last year we got a glimpse of what Ulis could do, and it was enticing enough that future looks very bright with Ulis going full time. Chances are he'll share the court with fellow PG Briscoe, but make no mistake, Ulis will be the man.

This is a very good thing. He's a playmaker who knows what he's doing, is a deceptively good shooter and is a pest on defense. The only thing keeping Ulis from being a star and sure-thing lottery pick is his size, but that won't hurt him much in college. This is Tyler's team, and that means Kentucky is in good hands.

Alex Poythress — Sr.

John Calipari's first four-year player. By accident, really, but here we are. Poythress is coming off a season-ending torn ACL in mid-December last year. Before that, it looked like he was really starting to put all of his tools together. Now we have to wait and see again.

At his best, Poythress is a wrecking ball who goes after rebounds and attacks the rim with incredible hops and athleticism. Oh, and he is also capable of knocking down the three. At his worst, he disappears because he's not able to create his own shot.

As he gets back into a rhythm this season, it remains to be seen if we get the good Poythress or the bad Poythress.

Marcus Lee — Jr.

I expect big things from Marcus Lee this year. He's not as tall as Willie Cauley-Stein or as good of a defender, but he's almost as good of an athlete. He'll be there for alley-oops, putback slams, blocks, etc. His offense still needs a lot of work, but he'll be surrounded by playmakers, so it's not essential that he be an immediate threat.

If Lee can turn himself into the kind of defensive difference-maker that WCS was alongside Skal Labissiere, those two could allow Kentucky to play with a great tempo while not losing any rim protection.

Dominique Hawkins — Jr.

Hawkins will be coming off a broken right hand, so we haven't really seen how Calipari plans on using him in the rotation just yet, but he can be a great defensive sub if Kentucky needs one.

Derek Willis — Jr.

Willis has always been a mystery in his time in Lexington. We've heard so much about his potential and ability, but the teams he's played on have been so stacked we've never really gotten a chance to see it. If he proves himself enough in practice, we may see Calipari reward him with more playing time this season. If so, he's a solid three-point shooter and at 6'9 can be an asset at power forward if the Cats do play more small ball.

Roster and Projected Lineup

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Will Calipari have to figure out how to use a bench again after a whole season of platoons? Considering he basically threw out the platoons near the end of the year anyway, he probably won't have any problem. But he'll definitely have a shorter bench this season.

Here's what the starters most likely will be:

G: Tyler Ulis (So., 5'9)

G: Isaiah Briscoe (Fr., 6'3)

G: Jamal Murray (Fr., 6'4)

F: Marcus Lee (Jr., 6'9)

F: Skal Labissiere (Fr., 6'11)

The three-guard lineup with two very mobile big men is going to be a fun one for Kentucky to use. It gives it two ball-handling options in Ulis and Briscoe and plenty of scoring around Lee to offset his weaknesses.

The only real knock about this lineup is its youth. As talented as they are, three freshmen starters are going to spell mistakes and plenty of them. 

Key reserves

Alex Poythress (F), Charles Matthews (G), Isaac Humphries (F), Mychael Mulder (G), Dominique Hawkins (G), Derek Willis (F).

Not as deep of a bench as last season, but any time you have a talent like Alex Poythress as your sixth man, you're in pretty good shape. It's possible Poythress will end up starting as the season progresses, but for now it looks like he'll be an energy guy off the bench. Good chance he'll end up playing more minutes than Lee.

On the rest of the bench, Kentucky has some extra size with Humphries if it needs it, more shooting from Matthews and Mulder, defense in Hawkins and a potential X-factor in Willis.

Biggest X-Factors

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Small Ball

I've mentioned it before, but Calipari has a chance to do something very interesting here. He's got the roster to really go small like he hasn't had before. He can play three guards, plus Poythress at the 4 and either Lee or Labissiere at the 5. 

This gives the Wildcats a chance to run and gun while still having enough rebounding and rim protecting on the defensive end that it doesn't end up costing them. 

In the past few years, Kentucky has had just too many talented big men to keep off the floor. Now with the frontcourt a little thinner, Cal can break out something new and let this group of guards run wild. It will also make for a killer press.

Alex Poythress

Alex gets his own section. There hasn't really been a more inconsistent player in Calipari's era at Kentucky. We've seen glimpses of what Poythress can be, what his ceiling is, but he's never put it together for a full season.

Well, this is his last chance. Even though he's coming off an injury, expectations are still high for what Poythress can bring to the table. If he shows up night after night as the Michael Kidd-Gilchrist-like defensive stopper and also brings his rebounding and energy, this could go from a young team with a lot of potential to a very, very dangerous team with experience in a hurry.

Bench Play

The first six for the Cats are set, but every team needs contributions off the pine if it wants to succeed. Kentucky has lots of youth and a couple rarely seen veterans ready to come in after Poythress.

Could Derek Willis finally go from a guy with talent that's just talked about or talent that we can actually see? Will Charles Matthews or Mychal Mulder be even better shooters than we thought? Could Isaac Humphries grow up in a hurry and start contributing sooner rather than later? If just a couple of those things happen, it might be enough.

Best- and Worst-Case Scenarios

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Best-Case Scenario

This is Kentucky after all, so a national championship is always on the table. 

If the freshmen turn out to be as good as expected, if Tyler Ulis is indeed one of the best point guards in the country and if Alex Poythress can be a big contributor, there's enough talent on the team to make a run at a title.

Calipari has a history of getting a team to jell at the right time. There may be bumps along the way, but if the team can commit to his defensive vision and the young players grow up quickly, it might be national championship No. 9 for the Cats.

Worst-Case Scenario

The freshmen play like freshmen, Ulis gets hurt or something, Poythress regresses. Just thinking up the bad things that could happen gives me cold sweats. But even with everything going wrong, it's hard to imagine we're looking at a 2012-13 scenario. 

It's tempting to consider it, because the last time Kentucky had six guys drafted it got beat in the first round of the NIT the next season. But that year the best returning player was a Kyle Wiltjer that was at the wrong school and had only scratched the surface of what he was capable of. A core of Ulis, Poythress and Lee to steady a ship being powered by so many freshmen is a lot more stable.

Worst case, Kentucky gets a No. 4 seed and goes out in the second round. There's just not enough talent in the SEC right now to give the Wildcats enough trouble to knock them down further, but it's possible they could go cold in the tournament and come up against a more experienced team.

Prediction: Final Four

James Crisp/Associated Press

This is cruel, to make me give a prediction after just a couple of exhibition games. Especially with Kentucky, where you don't really know what you have in a team until the middle of conference play.

I'm going to predict another Final Four appearance. It's because I have faith in Tyler Ulis. He's fearless and talented and plays like a 6'6 senior instead of a 5'10 sophomore. He will be the playmaker Kentucky needs and put his teammates in a position to succeed.

Once again, the freshmen are for real. The player who's the most concerning is probably the one most people think is the surest best, Labissiere. He still seems too raw, and I'm worried about what's going to happen when he starts playing big men who will really get into him. A big man that drifts away from the basket that often is a concern.

But even still, we've seen players under Calipari mature quickly. Even if Skal or any of the other guys Kentucky will be relying on gets off to a slow start, there's an entire season to get ready for the tournament. 

It seems foolish to predict that a Kentucky team that is full of so many unknowns will get that far, but then again when you look at the talent they have it seems foolish not to. As much as UK fans want that ninth championship, my prediction is that it'll fall short again.