John Calipari says Shaedon Sharpe will arrive on campus after Christmas

We’re just over a week away from the anticipated arrival of five-star freshman Shaedon Sharpe. After announcing his decision to enroll early at Kentucky in November and signing with the program shortly after, the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect is set to join the team after Christmas.

Arriving after the holiday

Kentucky head coach John Calipari announced Thursday that Sharpe would come back with the rest of the team after the Christmas holiday.

“What’s the date today? I think he comes after Christmas, when we come back for Christmas. Great kid,” Calipari said.

No expectations yet

What are the program’s expectations upon his arrival? Has Calipari changed his tune at all regarding Sharpe’s potential impact this season — should he play, of course? They haven’t gotten that far.

“Let’s just get him to campus,” Calipari said. “Let’s just get him here.”

Sharpe, rated as the No. 1 overall prospect in the On3 Consensus, committed to Kentucky back on September 7. He chose the Wildcats over Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma State and the G League Ignite.

“Special impact”

Standing 6-5, 195 pounds, Calipari believes Sharpe has the ability to make a “special impact” on the Kentucky basketball program.

“Shaedon has the ability to be one of those guys that we’ve had make a special impact on this program,” Calipari said at the time of Sharpe’s signing. “He is an elite scorer with a ton of upside. He’s a 6-5 athlete who I would describe as bouncy. What I love about Shaedon is the work he has put in over the last year to take his game to the next level.

“I look forward to seeing that work ethic take on a new challenge at Kentucky.”

Ready for whatever, whenever

Is Sharpe expecting to play immediately? Not at all. In fact, his plan is to come in and redshirt this season before returning in 2022-23.

Should his number be called, though, the five-star guard will be ready.

“His mindset is just to go there and get ready,” Sharpe’s mentor Dwayne Washington, told KSR. “If Coach (Cal) says, “I need you to play,” he’s going to play. He’s not going out there to play, he’s going out there to practice, but that can change at any moment.”

We’ll find out for certain in the coming weeks.