Matt Jones: Kentucky Basketball has major issues it needs to fix

With five months until the season and only 34 days until the GLOBL Jam in Toronto, Kentucky Basketball’s 2023-24 roster consists of five freshmen and two sophomores. The Cats could add three more freshmen over the coming days as four-star center Somto Cyril, three-star guard Joey Hart, and three-star small forward Jordan Burks visit and/or announce their decisions. Senior guard Antonio Reeves, last year’s second-leading scorer, is still considering whether or not to return to Kentucky for another season or finish his college career elsewhere, but recent developments suggest it will be the latter.

Combine that with Kentucky striking out multiple times in the transfer portal (Hunter Dickinson and Keshad Johnson being the most notable examples) and there’s no denying that this team will be historically young, even by John Calipari’s standards, in a time when the sport is trending older. Without Reeves, Kentucky will return only 3.4% of its scoring (4.7 points per game), 5.9% of its rebounding (4.5 rebounds per game), and 4.4% of its minutes (15 per game) between Adou Thiero and Ugonna Onyenso.

On today’s episode of KSR, Matt Jones shared what he’s hearing about the state of the program, including John Calipari. Sources confirmed what we’ve all sensed over the last few months: it’s bleak.

“I want to do some hard truths here,” Jones began. “I don’t know all that’s going on behind the scenes, but what I know is what I’ll talk about. And I will say to you, this is just a fact. Is this not fixable? Anything is fixable.

“But this is a fact: this program in the last few months, has been in complete disarray. Nobody knows what’s going to happen next, including the coaches. It has been in disarray and anybody that says otherwise it’s just wrong.”

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Antonio Reeves reportedly taking summer classes at Illinois State

Kentucky has lost a total of eight, potentially nine, players this offseason. Four players kept their names in the NBA Draft (Cason Wallace, Jacob Toppin, Oscar Tshiebwe, Chris Livingston) and four exited through the transfer portal (Sahvir Wheeler, CJ Fredrick, Daimion Collins, Lance Ware). Antonio Reeves tested the waters of the NBA Draft but withdrew his name before the NCAA’s eligibility deadline; however, he is exploring options, whether that means a return to Kentucky or a transfer to another school.

Reeves, a Chicago native, is reportedly enrolled at his previous school, Illinois State, for summer classes, which could mean he’s working toward finishing his degree, which would allow him to play somewhere else as a grad transfer. Without a waiver, that’s the only way he can leave Kentucky since he didn’t enter the transfer portal before the NCAA’s deadline.

“He can’t be a grad transfer, but if he finishes a summer of credits he can and he’s taking them — again, according to some reports — at Illinois State,” Jones said. “If he’s taking them at Illinois State, it’s because he doesn’t want to be here. Right? Why wouldn’t you take it here?”

“I want you to think about the fact that we have no one that played a lot returning. We have whiffed on multiple grad transfers. And you can’t say there’s a plan when they’ve brought guys on campus and gone after them and they’ve all gone somewhere else. Was the plan to lose guys on purpose? It has been in disarray.”

Calipari’s disconnect with the boosters, media, administration

Why are players leaving the program and others deciding not to come here? Name, image, and likeness (NIL) plays a huge part and Jones said that John Calipari’s lack of a relationship with boosters is one big reason Kentucky is falling behind.

“Players come and go; that worries me less than the other stuff. And again, if people don’t want to believe this, they don’t have to but this is the truth: Calipari has no connection with the main boosters of this program, specifically the main couple and it’s killing us. It just is. The people around the program can’t talk to him; they don’t know what to say to him. And he is completely isolated from everybody.”

Jones did note Calipari and Mitch Barnhart’s trip to Washington DC yesterday to join the push for federal legislation regarding NIL as a positive step.

“I was happy to see the picture of him and Mitch in Washington. I’m glad that happened. Maybe that’s the start of things getting better there. But it is not a secret to anybody that he has not had a relationship with Mitch. He does not have a relationship with the boosters. He does not have a relationship with the media. And a lot of the folks that have worked there in the last year or two have either gone or are about to go.”

“The program has been in disarray. I have people — and this has happened three times in the last four days — people who genuinely like and care about Kentucky basketball but also genuinely like and care about Cal say to me, ‘Matt, what is going on?’ And the tough part is I don’t think there’s an easy answer to that.”

“Being around the UK basketball program right now is just no fun whatsoever”

Kentucky is on the verge of adding three players — Jordan Burks, Joey Hart, and Somto Cyril — to the roster, which is now a necessity just from a practice standpoint. Yet, those three players weren’t even mentioned in the conversation regarding next season a month ago, another troubling sign. Kentucky may still pull in elite freshmen talent, this year’s No. 1 recruiting class being the prime example, but Jones said the program’s inability to retain veteran players and attract transfers is an indicator of issues with NIL and the environment behind the scenes.

“Now could Cal make it work? He could. I still think he’s a great coach. But the off-the-court stuff has made it to where Kentucky basketball is, and this was a direct quote. I wrote it down because I wanted to get it right. ‘Matt, being around the UK basketball program right now is just no fun whatsoever.'”

“And I think that’s right. Ask yourself, why would Antonio Reeves leave? Why would Lance Ware leave? Why would CJ Frederick leave? Damion Collins, I understand. [Chris] Livingston and Oscar [Tshiebwe], I understand. Why do these guys leave? Why does David Jones go to Memphis instead of here? This is just not a place right now that people are excited to be around. They just aren’t.”

Jones pointed out Calipari’s lack of media appearances in recent months as further proof of his isolation. Aside from a few interviews with national media members (John Fanta, Dan Patrick) and some tweets, it’s been radio silence, which is becoming deafening.

“I still like John Calipari. I still think he’s a good person. I still think he’s a good coach. But the guy’s got to look in the mirror. And he’s got to look in the mirror and go, ‘Why is this happening? Why have I ended up out on this island?’ And if that doesn’t get fixed, then it’s hard for me to have any confidence not just about next year but about anything.”

Listen to the segment on YouTube or the complete conversation on Hour 2 of today’s podcast.

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