What's next for Kentucky, why John Calipari poaching UK's recruiting class isn't a done deal

The John Calipari era is over in Lexington with him stepping away at Kentucky. Beyond the obvious of who their next head coach will be, that shift also leaves plenty of new questions for the questions, namely in regards to the roster.

On3’s Andy Staples asked James Fletcher III on Tuesday about Kentucky’s current situation in the aftermath of Calipari leaving. He sees at least a few of the former Wildcats following him to Arkansas, even though it’s not a certainty for all of them based on who fills the new vacancy back at UK.

“There’ll be a few,” Fletcher said. “There are some of those that have that deep connection, for sure. I think the interesting thing to follow with this Kentucky roster is they committed to the Kentucky brand as well as Cal. Depending on what coach does come in there, how many of them decide that they want to stick with the new coach, that they want to be a part of the new Kentucky brand? They’re probably going to be one-and-dones anyways so might as well be with that guy.”

Kentucky has had two players enter or reportedly plan to enter the portal since Calipari’s departure. Aaron Bradshaw, a former five-star, top-five prospect, and No. 1 C in 2023, entered on Monday. Joey Hart, a former three-star, will reportedly be going as well. That’s not to mention Adou Thiero, who was in the portal already before this news came.

Besides Justin Edwards in the NBA Draft, that leaves several decisions left for players to make. Players like Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham might be leaning more toward pro careers in the draft. Still, that leaves others like DJ Wagner, Zvonimir Ivisic, Ugonna Onyenso, and Jordan Burks to consider their futures.

That also doesn’t include what might happen for the six freshman committed to Kentucky as part of the No. 2 class in the nation. Karter Knox is the only one to decommit and reopen his recruitment to this point. If others did too, Fletcher knows they’d all have plenty of options at other programs across the country.

“I know that they’ve got one Kentucky native there. I feel like he is probably the most likely to stay at Kentucky in Travis Perry,” said Fletcher. “Beyond that, (Calipari) will get a couple of them to come with him. I’m not going to throw around names because, obviously, I haven’t gotten time to go through which ones it is.

“You’ve also got, in this new era? They’re going to re-open their recruitment. And, unless Cal has already sealed the deal that that relationship is there and they want to follow him no matter what? Boogie Fland had plenty of other suitors in his recruitment. Jayden Quaintance? He is the same way. He has got a lot of teams that’ll show interest if he decides to open things back up,” Fletcher continued. “Karter Knox is a guy that I think a lot of people believe will follow Calipari to Arkansas but I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple coaches called him up just to see what his interest is before he does that. Somto Cyril, another guy who would draw some interest.”

Of all of those, the ones that Fletcher is watching most closely are the duo of Wagner and Billy Richmond, a four-star forward in this class. The two played together at Camden High School in New Jersey while both have connections to Calipari in their father’s careers at Memphis. Now, the thought is if whether neither, one, or both end up with him and the Razorbacks.

“You’ve got the interesting one to me. You’ve got DJ Wagner. There’s the relationship with the Wagner family, with Calipari. He’s still on that Kentucky roster as of now. We’ll see what he decides to do. He has also got an NBA Draft decision to make through all of this,” Fletcher said. “Then Billy Richmond Jr., who is the son of a former John Calipari player at Memphis. They are local to this Memphis community. The family is still here, runs a chicken-wing business in town. So, does he come home, play for Penny Hardaway? Or does he follow Cal to Arkansas? Does he pave his own path at Kentucky? He has got a lot of options as well.”

With Calipari officially gone after 15 seasons, the move will send shockwaves throughout the sport. Those tremors will be felt most in the bluegrass, though, as the program and roster moves forward into the offseason.