My History as a Fan
I’ve been a University of Kentucky basketball fan since age 12, and maybe became a fan even younger. When the #1 ranked 1969-70 UK team led by All-American Dan Issel lost in the NCAA tournament to a Jacksonville team led by center Artis Gilmore, 12-year-old me cried.
It’s wrong for a person, even a child, to take a basketball loss so seriously. After all, it’s only a game. But some of us take sports seriously. Furthermore, it's been stated that UK basketball is almost a religion in Kentucky. And there’s at least a bit of truth to that. Many in this state are fanatical about UK basketball.
As a college student decades ago, I sometimes camped out on Saturday nights in order to be in line early to get tickets for quality seats to UK home games that were distributed Sunday afternoons. Once I even camped out Friday night and Saturday night. And I wasn’t the only one. Typically a crowd of students camped outside seeking to get nice lower arena tickets.
Over the years, I also accumulated things to show my fan support for UK men's basketball, UK women's basketball, and UK football, including those pictured below.
A complete list of last season’s games and scores is on the UK Athletics website.[1]
The season ended with disappointment, two consecutive losses. After falling to Tennessee in the SEC tournament semifinals, the Wildcats suffered a loss to St. Peters in Kentucky’s one NCAA tournament game.
UK ended the season with a 26-8 record, excluding the two wins in exhibition games against Kentucky Wesleyan College and Miles College.
Some 2022-23 Kentucky Preseason Forecasts by Others
Forecasters anticipate a better season for UK in 2022-23 than last year.
ESPN[2] has Kentucky #4 in August 23, 2022 preseason rankings. The Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook[3] ranks Kentucky #3. Sports Illustrated[4] ranked Kentucky #4 in a June 18, 2022 preseason ranking.
Yes, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook all pick Kentucky to make the Final Four.
My Forecast and UK’s Schedule
Being a UK fan, I am likely biased. But I’m picking Kentucky to win the national championship. Believe it or not, there is some logic to my pick.
* For one thing, Kentucky played some summer exhibition games in the Bahamas (as noted on the 2022-23 season schedule which is posted on the UKAthletics.com website[5] and many other places).
These summer games in the Bahamas gave Kentucky some early practice time, experience playing against outside competition, and provided Kentucky Coach John Calipari a chance to learn how his team members play individually and as a team.
* Second the team features the return of consensus national player of the year Oscar Tschiebwe,. He led the nation in rebounds per game last season, as recorded on NCAA.com[6] and other sources. This is great news. But the fact that the Cats lost in their opening NCAA tournament game indicates he alone isn’t enough.
* Returnees also include Sahvir Wheeler, who led Kentucky and the SEC in assists per game last season according to records on SECSports.com[7] and other sources. The return of CJ Fredrick who missed last season due to a hamstring injury helps too.
* In the August Bahamas games, the transfer from Illinois State (Antonio Reeves) was the tournament MVP. He's a nice addition to the team. Among many sources offering details on the summer Bahamas games is ASeaofBlue.com.[8]
* Calipari often does well blending experienced players with transfers and incoming freshmen. This team includes enough experience to allow more of that blending to occur than with a typical Calipari team. Calipari’s Kentucky teams seem, as I see it, to function better when a few quality experienced players can mesh with the incoming players.
The Roster
The 2022-23 team roster is listed on the UK Athletics website,[9] as well as numerous other media websites. The team members are: Jacob Toppin, CJ Fredrick, Sahvir Wheeler, AdouThiero, Daimion Collins, Antonio Reeves, Grant Darbyshire, Brennan Canada, Walker Horn, Cason Wallace, Chris Livingston, Kareem Watkins, Ugonna Onyenso, Oscar Tshiebwe, and Lance Ware.
The Bahamas games may offer insights into which players will start, which will come off the bench first, etc. But it’s still a while before the start of the season. Things can change.
The Future and Closing Thoughts
Kentucky basketball’s future looks bright. Calipari continues recruiting well, in addition to securing quality transfers. The fan base remains strong too.
I expect an exciting, successful season this year and next year, as well as in the foreseeable future.
However, partially due to so many one-and-done freshmen players, as well as transfers, I don’t keep up well with who all the players are for Kentucky anymore. My other activities are probably a factor too.
Furthermore, while it seems fair that players can earn more for their efforts, the new NCAA regulations allowing certain types of sports-related earnings for college athletes may negatively impact some student athletes, programs, and the sport. Time will tell how the changes affect things.
My not being as avid a fan as I used to be may be a good thing. After all, basketball is only a game. It’s not important in the grand scheme of things.
But I’ll still be hoping for another national championship for the University of Kentucky Wildcats this year. Go Big Blue!
ENDNOTES:
[1] “UK 2021-22 Men’s Basketball Schedule”; UKAthletics.com; webpage accessed September 25, 2022; https://ukathletics.com/sports/mbball/schedule/season/2021-22/
[2] Borzello, Jeff; “Way-Too-Early Top 25 men's college basketball rankings 2022-23: Standouts from a summer of international tours”; ESPN; August 23, 2022; webpage accessed September 25, 2022; https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/page/earlytop25082222/way-too-early-top-25-men-college-basketball-rankings-2022-23-standouts-summer-international-tours
[3] Dortch, Chris; “Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook Preseason Top 25”; Chris Dortch’s Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook; September 1, 2022; webpage accessed September 25, 2022; https://blueribbon.substack.com/p/blue-ribbon-college-basketball-yearbook-e14?utm_source=twitter&sd=pf
[4] Sweeney, Kevin; “Top 25 Reset: How Transfers, Draft Decisions Changed Our Men’s 2022–23 Rankings”; Sports Illustrated website; June 18, 2022; webpage accessed September 25, 2022; https://www.si.com/college/2022/06/18/ncaa-basketball-rankings-top-25-reset
[5] “2022-23 Men’s Basketball Schedule”; UKAthletics.com; webpage accessed September 25, 2022 https://ukathletics.com/sports/mbball/schedule/
[6] “NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Individual Statistics: Rebounds Per Game”; webpage accessed September 25, 2022; https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d1/current/individual/137
[7] “SEC Basketball: 2022 Statistics’; SECSports.com; webpage accessed September 25, 2022; https://www.secsports.com/statistics/mens-basketball
[8] Marcum, Jason; “Cumulative stats and postgame notes from Kentucky’s Bahamas Tour”; ASeaofBlue.com; August 15, 2022; webpage accessed September 25, 2022; https://www.aseaofblue.com/2022/8/15/23304724/uk-basketball-cumulative-stats-postgame-notes-bahamas-tour-2022
[9] “2022-23 Men’s Basketball Roster”; UKAthletics.com; webpage accessed September 25, 2022; https://ukathletics.com/sports/mbball/roster/
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