With the season now in the rearview mirror, the Kentucky Wildcats will turn their attention to the 2022-23 season.
First in that process is NBA Draft decisions, and there are two players on the roster whose decisions could go a long way in determining the success of next year’s roster in Shaedon Sharpe and Oscar Tshiebwe.
Ben Roberts of the Herald-Leader released an article today that helped paint a picture of Sharpe and Tshiebwe’s thoughts early on in this process.
Let’s first look at Oscar.
Once his NIL eligibility became a thing, pretty much everyone in the fanbase thought it was a done deal that the beloved big-man would return for his senior season.
However, Roberts says not so fast.
According to Roberts, things about his future at UK have taken a slight shift, as Tshiebwe has driven his stock up to the point that he may be a late first-round pick this year if he declares.
“Asking around in the days leading up to the NCAA Tournament, it sounded more like a “50-50” type of situation for a return of Tshiebwe, who, by all accounts, has loved his time in Lexington but will need to take a long look at his NBA prospects and future plans following this season.”
For Sharpe, things continue on the trend that they have been for several months. Those close to him and John Calipari believe he will be back, while everyone else thinks he is gone to the draft.
“Sharpe, despite the consistent messaging from his camp over the past couple of months, is expected to enter the NBA Draft, where he’s considered a lock to be a lottery pick — and a possible top-five selection — without ever having played a game of college basketball.” Roberts says.
He also continues by saying that it would be a “surprise” to see Sharpe back in Lexington next season.
At this point, it looks like Kentucky will be very lucky just to get one of these guys back next season, which will likely be the key to how good the 2022-23 team can be.
Let the waiting game begin folks, as it seems that these decisions will go well into the summer.
Be sure to check out the rest of Ben Robert’s article here.
This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here