2020–21 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

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.

2020–21 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	0–0 (0–0 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

2020–21 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Alabama†	16	–	2		.889			26	–	7		.788
No. 10 Arkansas	13	–	4		.765			25	–	7		.781
LSU	11	–	6		.647			19	–	10		.655
Tennessee	10	–	7		.588			18	–	9		.667
Florida	9	–	7		.563			15	–	10		.600
Ole Miss	10	–	8		.556			16	–	12		.571
Missouri	8	–	8		.500			16	–	10		.615
Kentucky	8	–	9		.471			9	–	16		.360
Mississippi State	8	–	10		.444			18	–	15		.545
Georgia	7	–	11		.389			14	–	12		.538
Auburn*	7	–	11		.389			13	–	14		.481
South Carolina	4	–	12		.250			6	–	15		.286
Texas A&M	2	–	8		.200			8	–	10		.444
Vanderbilt	3	–	13		.188			9	–	16		.360
† 2021 SEC tournament winner * Ineligible for postseason due to self-imposed postseason ban.

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 cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With the SEC Tournament cancelled, they were awarded the SEC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, the NCAA Tournament was also cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Offseason

Coaching changes

Departures

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

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. 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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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
	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.

Incoming transfers

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

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 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) Tony Barbee (UMass) Joel Justus (UNC Wilmington) John Robic (Denison) 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
Exhibition
TBA* TBA		TBD						Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
Regular Season
November 10, 2020*  ESPN		vs. Kansas Champions Classic						United Center  Chicago, IL
November 13, 2020*		Detroit Mercy						Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
November 17, 2020*		Hartford						Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
November 20, 2020*		Georgia State						Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
November 23, 2020*		Richmond						Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
November 27, 2020*		vs. Georgia Tech						State Farm Arena  Atlanta, GA
November 30, 2020*		Cleveland State						Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
December 19, 2020* 4:30 p.m., CBS		vs. UCLA CBS Sports Classic						Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse  Cleveland, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.