John Calipari Teases Year Three for Adou Thiero

Adou Thiero was an afterthought in the 2022 recruiting class. Ranked outside of the Top 100, expectations were low for the son of a former Calipari player. Two years later he’s one of the most important players on the team.

On Tuesday night Thiero tallied 11 points, three rebounds, and a pair of steals in Kentucky’s two-point win over Mississippi State. The physical forward has now scored in double figures in three of the last five games.

He was an under-sized guard when he arrived in Lexington. Now he might be the most explosive and physical athlete on the team. Thiero is Kentucky’s best lob-catcher, and arguably its most versatile defender. It was all possible thanks to a late growth spurt. On Wednesday’s John Calipari Show, the head coach said he does not believe Thiero is finished growing.

“It’s all there for him. He’s gotten so much better,” Calipari said on his radio show.

“He’s not even what he was a year ago and what he is now. And I still think he’s going to be 6-9. He’s probably 6-7, maybe a little bit bigger now. By the time next year rolls around, he’ll be 6-9.”

Next year, you say? That would warm the hearts of the Big Blue Nation.

It may sound early, but Kentucky fans have already started speculating who may return for the 2024-25 campaign. In Jonathan Givony’s first 2025 NBA mock draft, he included Thiero at No. 27 overall. Aaron Bradshaw and Zvonimir Ivisic were also in that mock draft.

During a different portion of the program, Calipari seemingly shared a cautionary tale to his players about departing for the NBA Draft prematurely, citing a stat from Givony that over 40% of players drafted in 2020 and 2021 have already been moved by the team that selected them.

“In other words, you get a couple of years to prove yourself. So when you go in, you got to be ready to go mentally and physically, not be an excuse maker. Learn to be a great teammate. Learn to take what you want and carve out your own thing. Don’t be afraid, you can’t play not to lose. You play to win and let it go,” said Cal.

“You have to already have your professional habits established because you get a year, maybe a year and a half. They’re not signing you to those extensions anymore. It’s got a little bit rougher and I think that’s the advantage for our guys.”

Calipari shares the latest on Tre Mitchell

Tre Mitchell missed his fourth straight game on Wednesday night. He suffered a shoulder injury in the second half of the Ole Miss game. Calipari believes Mitchell is close to giving the Wildcats another reliable shooter that can extend opposing defenses.

“We got to see if Tre is able to play. If he goes a couple practices, we’ll see. With that time off, how much can you really play ’em and how do you start playing them? We’ll see in practice.”

Calipari has noted multiple times since the victory over Mississippi State that he finally saw glimpses of the real DJ Wagner. The point guard struggled to shoot the ball after missing a few weeks. Calipari is well-aware that it may take a similar amount of time for Mitchell to come along once he does return to action.

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