Looking to restore Kentucky’s standing as a dominant college basketball program, coach John Calipari rounded up another elite recruiting class for the 2023-24 season.
Those kids were talented, all right, but they were not ready to survive single-elimination basketball on the big stage. The Wildcats were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by No. 14 seed Oakland, a veteran team paced by a 24-year-old jump shooter, Jack Gohlke, who spent five years (including a redshirt year) at the Division II level playing for Hillsdale College.
He knocked down 10 shots from 3-point range coming off the bench and the Golden Grizzlies prevailed 80-78 over the No. 3 seed Wildcats.
“You go through this, and I've been in the ups and downs of this sport, but this one I'm really hurting for them, because there's other years your team, you max out and you lose a game and you're like, geez,†Calipari said, “This team, I really felt, could have done so much more.â€
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But in an oh-so-short 40-minute game, all those blue chip recruits couldn’t get past an Horizon League team stocked with veterans.
Mizzou fans may remember Oakland guard Rocket Watts, a Detroit-area guard that Cuonzo Martin’s staff targeted while unsuccessfully recruiting the Motor City.
Watts spent two years at Michigan State and a year at Mississippi State before returning closer to home to play for two years at Oakland, a commuter school in a northern suburb of Detroit.
Guard DQ Cole, who hit the clinching 3-point jumper against Kentucky, came to Oakland from Henry Ford College. Guard Blake Lampman is a fifth-year veteran of the program and forward Trey Townsend is a four-year contributor.
Such is college basketball today: seasoned teams led by players who have seen some things and done some things.
“It's changed on us,†Calipari said. “All of a sudden, it's gotten really old. So we're playing teams — our average age is 19. Their average age is 24 and 25. So do I change because of that?â€
Well, he better. Calipari is facing intense scrutiny from the restless Kentucky donor base, so he must come up with a convincing plan for moving forward if he wants to keep his job.
Writing for 247 Sports, Isaac Trotter summed things up:
The look on Reed Sheppard’s face late in the game against Oakland was gut-wrenching. A cold-blooded killer looked like the moment was just a little too big for him at theÌýworst time. Was that the last time Sheppard suits up in his beloved Kentucky blue?ÌýThat’s not the way his storybook Kentucky dream was supposed to end.
The nightmares. The worst potential outcome. Those jump-scares. That dreadedÌýdark side. All of it came out for the whole world to see.
Kentucky hasn't made a Sweet 16 since 2019. It's not the worst loss in March Madness (the loss to 15th-seeded Saint Peter's will sting more) but it's up there.Ìý
The SouthÌýRegion was wide open. HoustonÌýis hurt. Marquette is hurt.ÌýDuke hasn't looked like itself. Florida is hurt. The road to the Final Four was there for the taking, andÌýKentucky has to live with aÌýbrutal missed opportunity.Ìý
Of course, no one is feeling pity for the slick Kentucky coach. Calipari is one of college basketball’s highest-paid coaches and owns a $33 million buyout. The portal is right around the corner, and this roster is about to look way different. Kentucky’s brass has to decide what direction it wants to go with both its coach and its roster.
While Wildcats fans are miserable today, the NCAA Tournament’s brand is stronger than ever. Oakland’s upset reaffirmed that the tourney’s unpredictable first weekend offers some of the most compelling sports we'll see all year.
It’s no wonder that some major college coaches and administrators want to squeeze the Oaklands of the basketball world out of this event.
THE BASKETBALL DIARIES
Here is what folks have been writing about March Madness:
Kyle Tucker, The Athletic: The question Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart must now answer is as simple as it is complicated: What is the price of the program’s dignity? What’s it worth to expel a Hall of Fame coach who can neither recapture the magic nor ever offer even a coherent theory as to why? What would theÌýWildcatsÌýbe willing to pay for, say, more than one NCAA Tournament victory in the last four years? And is the obscene $33 million buyout in John Calipari’s albatross of a ‘lifetime’ contract too much? Hard questions, previously unfathomable questions, have to be asked after Calipari’s latest postseason stunner, an 80-76 loss in the South Region to 14th-seededÌýOakland, which had never won a game in the NCAA Tournament. The particulars hardly matter, but a former Division II player coming off the bench to bury 10 3-pointers and score 32 points against No. 3 seedÌýKentucky only adds insult to incompetence. Calipari just took the most talented, most exciting, most beloved roster he’s had in years and failed to win a single postseason game with it. Not an SEC tournament game. Not an NCAA Tournament game. In the end, not a single game that matters. Calipari had the national freshman of the year,ÌýReed Sheppard, who was genetically engineered to bring Kentucky fans maximum joy, and squandered what might well be his only season in Lexington. Calipari had a fifth-year senior,ÌýAntonio Reeves, who scored more points than any player he’s ever coached at Kentucky — including 27 more on Thursday night just to give the Cats a chance — and wasted it. He hadÌýRob Dillingham, the most sensational microwave scorer in the country, and lost 10 freaking games.â€
Jeff Borzello, : “That's the elephant in the room. The $33 million elephant. Calipari would be owed just over that amount if the program fired him after this season. In theory, there are ways Kentucky can come up with the money to buy out the rest of his contract. Zero Sweet 16 appearances, a single tournament win since 2019 -- there's going to be a large segment of the Kentucky fan base that wants Calipari out. The challenge is who to turn to after Calipari. Baylor’s Scott Drew just announced he was staying at Baylor after Louisville knocked on his door for its current opening; Alabama 's Nate Oats just signed an extension with a huge buyout; Iowa State 's T.J. Otzelberger would cost about $18 million to poach; UConn's Dan Hurley probably isn't leaving Storrs. Does Kentucky make a run at someone like Billy Donovan? Between Calipari's guaranteed money, buying out its next head coach and then paying the new coach's salary, we could be talking about a $50 million-plus investment. But it will undoubtedly be a talking point.”
David Cobb, : “The SEC tied with the Big 12 for most NCAA Tournament teams with eight. But its contingent dwindled considerably on Thursday. No. 8 seed Mississippi State's 69-51 loss to No. 9 seed Michigan State marked an anticlimactic end for the Bulldogs, who throttled Tennessee just six days earlier in an impressive SEC Tournament quarterfinal performance. No. 6 seed South Carolina looked equally feeble in an 87-73 loss to No. 11 seed Oregon. The Gamecocks prided themselves on defense and physicality during an otherwise excellent season but allowed the Ducks to shoot 59.6% from the floor. Then, there was Kentucky. Woof. It was not a banner day for the SEC. Tennessee did offer the conference some excitement when they defeated Saint Peter's 83-49. Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Texas A&M are all in action on Friday.”
Steven Ruiz, The Ringer: “Bruce Pearl’s team is peaking at the right time, having rolled over Florida in the SEC tournament final to cap off an impressive late-season run. The Tigers are deep, every player on the court defends and can score, and they share the basketball. They just might be the most balanced team in America. They’re the only one that ranks in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Not even UConn can claim that, with their shameful 11th-ranked defense. The Tigers lead the nation in defensive effective field goal percentage. This is not your typical 4-seed.â€
Isaac Trotter, 247 Sports: “N±ð²ú°ù²¹²õ°ì²¹Ìýhas pivoted to loading up on size against teams, like Illinois, who offensive rebound very well. That will be the recipe againstÌýTexas A&MÌýagain. Expect a ton of lineups with Rienk Mast, Juwan Gary, Brice Williams and Josiah Allick all on the floor together. Nebraska has a gorgeous 96.4 defensive rating with that quartet in the game. But Keisei Tominaga will have to guard somebody. Tyrece ‘Boots’ Radford will drive him. Wade Taylor IV can fire over the top on anybody. Manny Obaseki’s late-season heater is another tough matchup. Tominaga has to make enough shots to make up for the other end.â€
MEGAPHONE
“Obviously, we come in, we're the underdog by all measures, but as a player you can't think that way. You got to go out there and think you have the same talent level as them. I know they have draft picks, and I know I'm not going to the NBA, but I know on any given night I can compete with those guys -- and our team can. That's why I say we're not a Cinderella, because when we play our A-game, we can be the best team on the floor.â€
Oakland star Jack Gohlke, on the upset of Kentucky.