John Calipari Still Working To Bring Shaedon Sharpe Back To Kentucky After Draft Proclamation
Kentucky Coach John Calipari said that Shaedon Sharpe A final decision has yet to be made on his playing future and he is continuing to discuss with the winger’s family whether Sharpe will stay in the NBA draft or play for the Wildcats next season.
“All I can tell you is he could do this, but it hasn’t been done,” Calipari said Friday on SportsTalk with Dan Issel, a Kentucky basketball legend, and Mike Pratt. on ESPN 680 in Louisville.
Calipari added: “Nothing has changed in the last two months in terms of how we deal with this. I’m talking to his mom and dad, and we’re talking once a week. I’m not bragging. bossy with these, but they’re going to play a role in this.”
Sharpe announced above social media Thursday that he entered the NBA draft but maintained his college status. But sources told ESPN’s Jeff Borzello that Sharpe, the NBA’s No. 6 prospect by ESPN’s standingswill be in draft.
Sharpe, who arrived in Kentucky as a five-star and signed up for the spring semester, did not play for the Wildcats in 2021-22.
Sources told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, the 6-foot-6 – who was once the No. 1 player in his class – graduated from high school in May, sources told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
“My path to this point has not been a straight road to success but my passion for this game and my dream of playing at the highest level has allowed me to overcome the challenges and setbacks. hope and shaped me into the person I am today,” Sharpe wrote in his Instagram post.
But Calipari says Sharpe, who signed up for summer and fall classes at Kentucky, moved his belongings to the basement of the team’s dormitory, which is what players usually do when they’re about to return. about.
“What has changed is that he will come back,” Calipari said on Friday. “That was the plan. But suddenly, some circumstances changed and maybe he could be picked in those early, early picks. Maybe he couldn’t.”
Sharpe’s return will raise the prospect of a team that will be led by Oscar Tshiebwe, a Wood Award winner, who announced this week that he is returning to school. While NIL money was widely cited as a factor in Tshiebwe’s decision, he could also become just the second player to win the Wooden Prize twice. (Ralph Sampson won it in 1982 and 1983.)
Kentucky loses Saint Peter’s in the first round of this year’s NCAA tournament, one of the biggest games in college basketball history. Saint Peter’s advanced to the Elite Eight before losing North Carolina.
Despite the backlash he’s faced since suffering that loss, Calipari said he’s put that game behind him.
“I moved on from that game,” Calipari said. “Am I grieving? What? Am I having a hard time? What? I’ve never had a team do that in my career. We’ve never been there where we lost a double.[-digit] seed, but I finished it. It’s next. How do we win next year? Win the championship. That’s the only thing we put on this wall here. “
