2020–21 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

2020–21 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
	† 2021 SEC Tournament winner ; As of February 6, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
2020–21 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
2020–21 record	5–12 (4–6 SEC)
Head coach	John Calipari (12th season);
Assistant coaches	Tony Barbee (7th season); Joel Justus (5th season); Bruiser Flint (1st season);
Home arena	Rupp Arena

The 2020–21 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represents the University of Kentucky in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team plays its home games in Lexington, Kentucky for the 45th consecutive season at Rupp Arena, with a capacity of 20,545. The Wildcats are led by John Calipari in his 12th season as head coach and play in the Southeastern Conference.

The Wildcats began the season 1–6, marking the school's worst start since the 1926–27 season.[1]

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the season 25–6, 15–3 in SEC play to win the SEC regular season championship. They were set to be the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament with a bye to the quarterfinals. However, the SEC Tournament was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] Kentucky was announced as the league's champion following the cancellation of the tournament and, therefore, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.[3] However, shortly thereafter, the NCAA Tournament was also canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.[4]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Position	Year at Kentucky	Alma mater (year)	Reason for departure
Kenny Payne	Associate head coach	11th	Louisville (1989)	Hired as assistant by the New York Knicks[5]

Additions to staff

Name	Position	Year at Kentucky	Alma mater (year)	Previous Team
Bruiser Flint	Assistant Coach	1st	Saint Joseph's (1987)	Indiana

Player departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason left
Ashton Hagans	0	Guard	6'3"	198	Sophomore	Covington, Georgia	Declared for the 2020 NBA Draft
Tyrese Maxey	3	Guard	6'3"	198	Freshman	Garland, Texas	Declared for the 2020 NBA Draft
Immanuel Quickley	5	Guard	6'3"	188	Sophomore	Havre de Grace, Maryland	Declared for the 2020 NBA Draft
Kahlil Whitney	2	Guard	6'6"	190	Freshman	Roselle, New Jersey	Left team at midseason and later declared for the 2020 NBA Draft
Johnny Juzang	10	Guard	6'7"	214	Freshman	Studio City, California	Transferred to UCLA
Nate Sestina	1	Forward	6'9"	234	Graduate Student	Emporium, Pennsylvania	Completed athletic eligibility; graduated from Bucknell in 2019
E. J. Montgomery	23	Forward	6'10"	228	Sophomore	Marietta, Georgia	Declared for the 2020 NBA Draft
Nick Richards	4	Forward	6'11"	247	Junior	Kingston, Jamaica	Declared for the 2020 NBA Draft

2020 recruiting class

On July 27, 2019, BJ Boston committed to play basketball for the University of Kentucky over offers from Florida and Duke. Boston is the first commitment to the 2020 recruiting class and the #2 ranked shooting guard in the 2020 class by 247 sports.

Cam'Ron Fletcher, from St. Louis, Missouri, is the second commitment in the Kentucky 2020 recruiting class. He committed to Kentucky on August 4, 2019, and chose Kentucky over Michigan State.[6] He is a consensus four-star player by the four main recruiting services and is ranked #36 overall by 24/7 Sports.

Power forward Lance Ware, from Camden, New Jersey, is the third commitment in the Kentucky 2020 recruiting class. He committed to Kentucky on September 12, 2019, and chose Kentucky over Ohio State. He is a consensus four-star player by the four main recruiting services and is ranked #32 overall by Rivals.

Two days later, on September 14, 2019, SF Terrence Clarke from Brewster Academy pledged to Kentucky. Clarke is one of the most highly regarded prospects in the 2020 class, with most services ranking him among the top five players overall.

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
BJ Boston SG	Norcross, GA	Sierra Canyon (CA)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jul 27, 2019
BJ Boston SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 96
Cam'Ron Fletcher SF	St. Louis, MO	Vashon (MO)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Aug 4, 2019
Cam'Ron Fletcher SF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 83
Lance Ware PF	Camden, NJ	Camden (NJ)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sep 12, 2019
Lance Ware PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 87
Terrence Clarke SG	Boston, MA	Brewster Academy (NH)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sep 14, 2019
Terrence Clarke SG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 95
Devin Askew PG	Sacramento, CA	Mater Dei (CA)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Oct 17, 2019
Devin Askew PG	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 91
Isaiah Jackson PF	Pontiac, MI	Waterford Mott (MI)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Nov 16, 2019
Isaiah Jackson PF	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 89
Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 1st 247Sports: 1st ESPN: 1st
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Kentucky 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Preseason

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Davion Mintz	1	G	6'3"	185	Graduate Senior	Charlotte, NC	Creighton
Jacob Toppin	21	F	6'8"	190	Sophomore	Brooklyn, NY	Rhode Island
Olivier Sarr	30	C	7'0"	255	Senior	Toulouse, France	Wake Forest

In-season

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School	Years Eligible	Date Eligible
Oscar Tshiebwe	–	C	6'9"	260	Sophomore	Lubumbashi, DR Congo	West Virginia	3[lower-alpha 1]	October 1, 2021

Due to a special NCAA ruling, the 2020–21 season does not count against the eligibility of players in all NCAA winter sports, including basketball.

Roster

2020–21 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Jacob Toppin	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	So	Rhode Island	Brooklyn, NY
G	2	Devin Askew	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	Fr	Mater Dei	Sacramento, CA
G	3	BJ Boston	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Sierra Canyon	Norcross, GA
G	5	Terrence Clarke	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Brewster Academy	Boston, MA
G	10	Davion Mintz	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	196 lb (89 kg)	GS	Creighton	Charlotte, NC
G	11	Dontaie Allen	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	RS Fr	Pendleton County	Falmouth, KY
F	12	Keion Brooks	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	La Lumiere School	Fort Wayne, IN
G	13	Riley Welch (W)	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	UC Irvine	Littleton, CO
F	14	Brennan Canada (W)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	So	George Rogers Clark	Mount Sterling, KY
G/F	20	Zan Payne (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	RS So	Lexington Catholic	Lexington, KY
F	21	Cam'Ron Fletcher	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Vashon	St. Louis, MO
F	23	Isaiah Jackson	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	206 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Waterford Mott	Pontiac, MI
G	25	Kareem Watkins (W)	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	145 lb (66 kg)	Fr	Kingsway Regional	Camden, NJ
C	30	Olivier Sarr	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	237 lb (108 kg)	Sr	Wake Forest	Toulouse, FRA
F	55	Lance Ware	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	223 lb (101 kg)	Fr	Camden	Camden, NJ

Head coach

John Calipari (Clarion)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 21, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 25, 2020* 6:00 PM, SECN	No. 10	Morehead State	W 81–45	1–0	15 – Boston Jr.	7 – Boston Jr.	4 – Tied	Rupp Arena (3,075) Lexington, KY
November 29, 2020* 1:00 PM, ESPN	No. 10	Richmond	L 64–76	1–1	20 – Boston Jr.	11 – Sarr	2 – Tied	Rupp Arena (3,075) Lexington, KY
December 1, 2020* 9:30 PM, ESPN	No. 20	vs. No. 7 Kansas Champions Classic	L 62–65	1–2	12 – Boston Jr.	12 – Jackson	2 – Tied	Bankers Life Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN
December 6, 2020* 5:00 PM, ESPN	No. 20	vs. Georgia Tech	L 62–79	1–3	22 – Clarke	12 – Jackson	6 – Mintz	State Farm Arena (0) Atlanta, GA
December 12, 2020* 12:00 PM, CBS		Notre Dame	L 63–64	1–4	22 – Sarr	7 – Sarr	4 – Mintz	Rupp Arena (3,075) Lexington, KY
December 19, 2020* 2:00 PM, CBS		vs. No. 22 North Carolina CBS Sports Classic	L 63–75	1–5	17 – Mintz	8 – Mintz	3 – Askew	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (0) Cleveland, OH
December 26, 2020* 1:00 PM, ESPN		at Louisville Battle for the Bluegrass	L 59–62	1–6	19 – Mintz	7 – Tied	3 – Askew	KFC Yum! Center (3,281) Louisville, KY
SEC regular season
December 29, 2020 7:00 PM, ESPN2		South Carolina	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues					Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
January 2, 2021 6:00 PM, SECN		at Mississippi State	W 78–73 ^2OT	2–6 (1–0)	23 – Allen	12 – Ware	6 – Askew	Humphrey Coliseum (1,000) Starkville, MS
January 5, 2021 7:00 PM, SECN		Vanderbilt	W 77–74	3–6 (2–0)	24 – Sarr	7 – Sarr	3 – Askew	Rupp Arena (3,075) Lexington, KY
January 9, 2021 5:00 PM, ESPN		at Florida	W 76–58	4–6 (3–0)	13 – Tied	6 – Tied	4 – Brooks	O'Connell Center (2,324) Gainesville, FL
January 12, 2021 9:00 PM, ESPN		Alabama	L 65–85	4–7 (3–1)	14 – Jackson	6 – Tied	2 – Tied	Rupp Arena (3,075) Lexington, KY
January 16, 2021 2:00 PM, ESPN		at Auburn	L 59–66	4–8 (3–2)	11 – Mintz	6 – Tied	3 – Askew	Auburn Arena (1,824) Auburn, AL
January 20, 2021 7:00 PM, SECN		at Georgia	L 62–63	4–9 (3–3)	18 – Boston Jr.	13 – Sarr	4 – Askew	Stegeman Coliseum (1,638) Athens, GA
January 23, 2021 6:00 PM, ESPN		LSU	W 82–69	5–9 (4–3)	18 – Boston Jr.	15 – Jackson	4 – Askew	Rupp Arena (3,075) Lexington, KY
January 26, 2021 7:00 PM, ESPN		at No. 9 Alabama	L 59–70	5–10 (4–4)	12 – Tied	5 – Tied	4 – Mintz	Coleman Coliseum (2,055) Tuscaloosa, AL
January 30, 2021* 8:00 PM, ESPN		No. 5 Texas Big 12/SEC Challenge	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues					Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 3, 2021 7:00 PM, ESPN2		at No. 18 Missouri Rescheduled from Feb. 2 due to COVID-19 issues	L 70–75	5–11 (4–5)	18 – Mintz	10 – Tied	4 – Askew	Mizzou Arena (3,033) Columbia, MO
February 6, 2021 8:00 PM, ESPN		No. 11 Tennessee	L 71–82	5–12 (4–6)	23 – Brooks Jr.	11 – Brooks Jr.	4 – Askew	Rupp Arena (3,075) Lexington, KY
February 9, 2021 7:00 PM, ESPN		Arkansas						Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 13, 2021 1:00 PM, CBS		Auburn						Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 17, 2021 7:00 PM, SECN		at Vanderbilt						Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN
February 20, 2021 1:00 PM, CBS		at Tennessee						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
February 23, 2021 7:00 PM, ESPN/ESPN2		Texas A&M						Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
February 27, 2021 4:00 PM, CBS		Florida						Rupp Arena Lexington, KY
March 2, 2021 9:00 PM, ESPN/ESPN2		at Ole Miss						The Pavilion at Ole Miss Oxford, MS
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

On January 18, 2021, Duke fell out of the AP Top 25 ranking for the first time since February 8, 2016. This broke a 59-year streak and marked the first time since December 25, 1961 that the powerhouse trio of Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina were all out of the Top 25 ranking.[7]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	10	20	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR										Not released
Coaches	9	9^	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

"Kentucky Wildcats off to worst start since 1926-1927 season". 247Sports. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
"2020 SEC Tournament canceled Thursday amid coronavirus pandemic concerns". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
"SEC announces league champion after canceling 2020 SEC Tournament". Saturday Down South. March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
"2020 NCAA Tournament canceled due to growing threat of coronavirus pandemic". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
"Payne Accepts Assistant Coach Position with New York Knicks" (Press release). Kentucky Wildcats. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
Wheatley, Nick (August 4, 2019). "Cam'Ron Fletcher commits to Kentucky". A Sea of Blue. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
Cassandra Negley (January 18, 2021). "Duke, UNC, Kentucky all outside of men's AP Top 25 for first time since 1961". Retrieved January 20, 2021.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[7] Due to a special NCAA ruling, the 2020–21 season does not count against the eligibility of players in all NCAA winter sports, including basketball.

[1] "Kentucky Wildcats off to worst start since 1926-1927 season". 247Sports. Retrieved December 21, 2020.

[2] "2020 SEC Tournament canceled Thursday amid coronavirus pandemic concerns". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 21, 2020.

[3] "SEC announces league champion after canceling 2020 SEC Tournament". Saturday Down South. March 12, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.

[4] "2020 NCAA Tournament canceled due to growing threat of coronavirus pandemic". CBSSports.com. Retrieved December 21, 2020.

[5] "Payne Accepts Assistant Coach Position with New York Knicks" (Press release). Kentucky Wildcats. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.

[fletchercommit-6] Wheatley, Nick (August 4, 2019). "Cam'Ron Fletcher commits to Kentucky". A Sea of Blue. Retrieved August 5, 2019.

[8] Cassandra Negley (January 18, 2021). "Duke, UNC, Kentucky all outside of men's AP Top 25 for first time since 1961". Retrieved January 20, 2021.

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	State College Gymnasium (1903–1914) Buell Armory Gymnasium (1910–1924) Alumni Gymnasium (1924–1950) Memorial Coliseum (1950–1976) Rupp Arena (1976–present) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Centre College (historical) Florida Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	Basketbowl Champions Classic Fabulous Five "The Shot" The Unforgettables History under Adolph Rupp The Rivalry: Red v. Blue
People	Head coaches Honorees NBA draftees Players Recruiting history Statistical leaders
Seasons	1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics