John Calipari says Kentucky has a silent commitment

Last week, Kentucky added Illinois State transfer Antonio Reeves to the 2022-23 roster. According to John Calipari, another player will soon announce he’s joining the program as well.

“We got one commit,” Calipari said on Sports Talk with Dan Issel & Mike Pratt this morning. “We’ve got another guy committed. He’s going to announce here shortly. We’ve got a kid whose mother and the kid, ‘I’m gonna do this.’ All that and ’23 looks — we’re ahead of the game.”

Is this player in the transfer portal or is he a high school recruit? Class of 2022 or 2023? Calipari obviously didn’t specify but the safe bet is 2022 guard Adou Thiero, who visited Kentucky this past weekend. The 6’5″ combo guard is scheduled to announce his decision on May 8 and posted these pictures on social media yesterday (his little sister looks like a boss).

Had a great official visit to Kentucky, Thank you @UKCoachCalipari and the rest of the coaching staff for having my family and I! pic.twitter.com/5Mh52TtmN4

— Adou Thiero (@Adou_Thiero) May 2, 2022

Theiro’s father Almamy, played for Calipari at Memphis. Adou received a scholarship offer from Kentucky on March 26. The rising 2022 prospect also holds offers from Cincinnati, Maryland, Pitt, Duquesne, and UC Santa Barbara and has garnered interest from Indiana, Marquette, Ohio State, and West Virginia, among others. He also visited Pittsburgh, Maryland, and Xavier.

Following Theiro’s visit to Kentucky, three writers logged predictions for the Cats in his 247 Sports Crystal Ball, including Travis Branham. Kentucky has a 99.9% chance of landing him per On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM).

Calipari believes Kentucky’s roster could have up to 11 players

Later in the interview, Calipari said he believes Kentucky will end up with nine or ten scholarship players on the roster, possibly eleven. With the news that Keion Brooks is entering the transfer portal and the expectation that Shaedon Sharpe will keep his name in the draft, I count nine scholarship players on next year’s roster as it stands.

• Sahvir Wheeler (PG)
• CJ Fredrick (SG)
• Daimion Collins (F)
• Jacob Toppin (F) – Testing NBA Draft waters
• Oscar Tshiebwe (C)
• Lance Ware (F)
• Cason Wallace (CG)
• Chris Livingston (SF)
• Antonio Reeves (SG)

Calipari said he believes Toppin will return to the team after receiving feedback from the league through the NBA Draft evaluation process.

“I like this roster. Jacob [Toppin] is going through the [NBA Draft] process. I believe he’ll be back but we’ll have to wait and see, but I believe he’ll be back. With Daimion [Collins]. With Lance [Ware], with Oscar [Tshiebwe], with our guards. With Chris [Livingson], with Cason [Wallace], with CJ [Fredrick], with Antonio [Reeves]. And then Sahvir [Wheeler]. I mean, come on. I’m like saying, let’s go. Let’s play the game.”

“Our young guys are physically tough”

One of the things Calipari said he likes most about this roster is the toughness of the younger players like Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston.

“Last year, that team was so fun to coach because they cared about each other. And that’s what I see. I think we’re a year older with some guys. We got some young guys that I think are really talented and our young guys are physically tough. Our young guys, I think what you’ll see is, man, they’re tough. They defend, they can score the ball. They’re basketball players. I’m telling my staff as we evaluate, don’t want manmade players. I want basketball players who react to things. That you watch play, and it’s not, well this is the drill I’ve been working on. Because chairs don’t have arms and combs aren’t bones and now it becomes we want players. We want guys that can play.”

Coincidentally, Wallace is coming off an impressive showing at the Iverson Classic, where he turned in plays like this and took home National Player of the Year honors.

.@iversonclassic National High School Player of the Year 🙌

Congrats, @wallace_cason 😼

pic.twitter.com/dWW2kmUeT5

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) May 2, 2022

Congratulations to @wallace_cason for winning the @iversonclassic National High School Player of the Year award. #OneOfUs pic.twitter.com/OB4HE3RByJ

— ProSkills Basketball (@ProSkillsEYBL) May 1, 2022