Kentucky basketball: Starting lineup options for next season

Kentucky coach John Calipari talks to his players during the second half of the NCAA Midwest Regional Final on Sunday, March 31, 2019 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. Auburn beat Kentucky, 77-71, in overtime. (Rich Sugg/Kansas City Star/TNS via Getty Images) /

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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 31: Ashton Hagans #2 of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts to a play against the Auburn Tigers during the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 31, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

As is the annual tradition in Lexington, another crop of Wildcats is heading off to the NBA, meaning John Calipari will be busy incorporating the next crop of one-and-dones into his starting lineup this fall.

It feels like Kentucky is always a staple late in the NCAA Tournament under John Calipari, winning the national championship in 2012 and advancing to the Final Four on three separate occasions. The new formula in Lexington has been reliance on a talented crop of one-and-done freshmen to form a super team, but Kentucky actually hasn’t gotten to the season’s final weekend since their undefeated squad fell to Wisconsin in 2015.

Calipari made an adjustment this season, adding a grad transfer for the first time in former Stanford product Reid Travis, who helped offered an experienced hand to Kentucky’s young players. That experience certainly helped Kentucky, but they were done in by a hot-shooting Auburn team in the Elite Eight.

That game was the end for several of the Wildcats, with Travis graduating and P.J. Washington, Keldon Johnson, and Tyler Herro declaring for the NBA Draft. The good news is that several of this year’s top freshmen opted to return for their sophomore seasons, including Immanuel Quickley and Ashton Hagans, adding even more experience to the new crop of fantastic freshmen.

That formula worked well for Kentucky in 2015, when several key players returned to form the foundation of the team that went to the Final Four undefeated. There are a lot of ways that things could go for Kentucky, but let’s dive in with some looks at the lineup options for Kentucky next season.