ESPN’s Andy Katz was in Lexington for the first day of NCAA Tournament games at Rupp Arena and got some information on next year’s roster.
Kentucky cleared up its scholarship issue for 2013-14. As of now, the Wildcats don’t have one with players who are promised scholarships for next season. If everyone returns and no one else arrives (see: Andrew Wiggins), then Kentucky is set at 13. There are six returning players on scholarship in Nerlens Noel, Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress, Ryan Harrow, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kyle Wiltjer. There are seven incoming freshmen — five are signed in Andrew and Aaron Harrison, James Young, Marcus Lee and Derek Willis — and two are committed in Julius Randle and Dakari Johnson. The odds of Noel returning are slim, even with the torn ACL, freeing up at least one scholarship. There is always the chance someone else will transfer or decide to declare for the draft even with the prospects of making a team slim. This could actually work out for the Wildcats if the returning players accept roles and become mentors to the star-studded freshmen as rotation players in a year.
Jon Hood had been on scholarship since he arrived at Kentucky, but as you can see there is no mention of him.
Katz tweeted this later:
“@jaymoon007: @espnandykatz Jon hood for UK is a scholarship player” But was told on a one-year deal.
— Andy Katz (@ESPNAndyKatz) March 22, 2013
I guess we will see how all of this turns out, but in my opinion, I am not much on the thought of Jon Hood not taking part in Senior Night next season. Does he stay as a walk-on? Does he transfer to another school, especially since he will have his degree and can play next season at another school?
