Did John Calipari try to screw over his 2 best players in final Kentucky season?

Former Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari has a reputation of building up future NBA Draft prospects. It's what led to much of his success in Lexington -- developing future stars in John Wall, Anthony Davis, Demarcus Cousins and more. At Arkansas, he will look to bring that same pedigree.

Yet, Calipari actively achieved the opposite with two likely lottery picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, as Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard started only one and three games respectively. While both players received plenty of minutes, it was an odd technique used by Calipari that could have come back to bite not just him, but the young stars he was trying to develop.

In defense of John Calipari in final Kentucky season

Of course, starts matter much less than minutes played and what said prospects achieve when on the floor. Both Dillingham and Sheppard were among Kentucky's best players, and impressed scouts enough to be in the conversation as lottery chips. Heck, they ought to have a chip on their shoulders for coming off the bench thanks to Coach Cal. John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader made this exact point in a recent column:

"Neither Sheppard nor Dillingham was going to start ahead of Reeves, who led UK in scoring at 20.2 points per game. Wagner began the year as a starter and stayed there, primarily because he was considered UK’s best on-the-ball defender, but also because Calipari liked bringing Sheppard and Dillingham off the bench early, sometimes before even the first under-16-minute media timeout," Clay wrote.

Sheppard is projected to go third to the Houston Rockets in the latest ESPN NBA Mock Draft, while Dillingham is slotted at fourth. Whatever Calipari did to develop these two young stars behind the scenes, it clearly worked, and he'll looked to bring that same energy to Fayetteville.

Kentucky fans are reaching in latest John Calipari critique

As frustrating as Calipari's lack of in-game adjustments and stubborn nature can be, this is not one of those times. Both Sheppard and Dillingham received some of the most minutes on the team, but didn't start behind two proven veterans in Reeves and Wagner. Case closed.

"Who starts the game doesn’t matter nearly as much as who finishes the game. And Kentucky basketball’s downfall in 2023-24 had more to do with bad defense and poor rebounding than with John Calipari not starting Reed Sheppard or Rob Dillingham," Clay continued.

Frustrated Kentucky fans should be happy Calipari is gone in favor of Mark Pope. The former BYU coach will bring a fresh energy the Wildcats desperately need right now before their product goes stale. There's no point in reaching for another Coach Cal critique.