Four Wildcats Crack ESPN’s Top 100
Mark Zerof | USA Today
Even though college basketball season officially began Friday, few take it seriously until the Champions Classic headlines the 24 hour college basketball marathon. That’s why ESPN waited until this morning to release their Top 100 player projections for the 2016-17 season.
Here’s where the Cats stand according to ESPN’s college basketball writers and analysts, along with a few notable names that will surely get under your skin.
62. Isaiah Briscoe
Briscoe has already been dubbed the leader of Kentucky — as a sophomore. The knock on him last season was his shooting, but he proved last month during Kentucky’s pro day that he can make 3s in bunches.
42. Eric “Bam” Adebayo
The fun-loving Adebayo is no joke on the inside and will plug the biggest hole that plagued the Wildcats last season. He can block shots, rebound and protect the rim, all vital for a Kentucky team that struggled to do all three last season.
22. Malik Monk
Monk has already given a glimpse of his athletic talent with a monster dunk in the preseason that made a SportsCenter highlight reel. He’ll become a big-time scorer for the Wildcats in their quest to get to a Final Four.
14. De’Aaron Fox
Fox should have an immediate impact on Kentucky with his quickness on the defensive end. He’s fast in all facets of the game and as a pass-first guard he’ll make everyone on the floor better playing with him.
You can argue with each player’s placement by one or two spots. I believe Isaiah Briscoe is the most under-valued of all the Wildcats heading into the season and one of the most under-valued players in all of college basketball. It will be exciting to see Briscoe prove to the experts that they were wrong.
Other Notable Names
96. Donovan Mitchell, UofL
90. Yante Maten, UGA
64. Luke Kennard, Duke
46. OG Anunoby, IU
45. Amile Jefferson, Duke
38. Harry Giles, Duke
32. Frank Jackson, Duke
30. Marques Bolden, Duke
25. James Blackmon Jr., IU
23. Thomas Bryant, IU
18. Jayson Tatum, Duke
1. Grayson Allen, Duke
[ESPN]
27 Comments for Four Wildcats Crack ESPN’s Top 100
Love nothing more than anyone beating Grayson Laettner for player of the year. Intense but overrated.
Grayson Allen is the best player in college basketball??? Lol
hes not the best prospect, but he is the top returning scorer (20+ppg at that) for the preseason #1 team.
Grayson Allen are you kidding me, really???????? lol lol thats funny
I go to Duke, have watched Grayson in person 8 or 9 times, and he sucks. He actually sucks. He is not even the best player on our roster; best player in the country are you kidding me???
you dont go to duke. you havent watched him in person 3 times, much less 8 or 9. and hes not as bad as you are implying.
Currently posting this while waiting to take my neuroscience midterm, very much at Duke. I would attach a selfie if I could.
Last year Grayson was nonexistent in some of the biggest games (UK, @UNC, etc). While he puts up 30 against the VA Techs and Clemsons of the world and is a lottery pick driving to his right, he can’t go left and folds against tough defense. Not a top 10 player in the country. Also, he’s a whiner, which elite players are not.
He only scored in single digits twice last season and that came against uk & utah. you might also want to take another look at the V-Tech and Clemson games because those weren’t even close to his best games of the season.
UNC- 29 points, 4 rebounds & 5 assists
@UNC- 23 points & 7 rebounds
Georgetown- 32 points, 5 rebounds & 4 assists
@NC State- 28 points, 7 rebounds & 7 assists
Virginia- 15 points, 7 rebounds & 7 assists
@Louisville- 29 points & 3 assists
Notre Dame- 27 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists & 4 steals
find some new material……
lol looks like Grayson’s momma is on KSR taking up for her boy. Dear Mrs. Grayson’s Mom, your son sucks at basketball, but he’s pretty good at tripping people while playing.
Elite players don’t need to trip people on purpose! But then again, he’s coming from Laettner U so he has to be dirty.
I figured everyone would be on board with Allen considering one of the incidents happened in a game against Louisville.
is him tripping a player any different than Demarcus Cousins giving a forearm shiv to the head of a player on the ground? or anything else he has done/said since then?
8 God you are also a Kentucky fan and wear matt jones blue glasses….State will whip that ass tonight crybabies
Your vitriol is uncalled for, but you’re also probably right. Since our freshmen won’t be back until ACC time, K has pretty much written off the entire preseason
congratulations on your big win over William and Mary, kybobby. So glad your boys worked so hard to prepare for them, the toughest team they’ll play all year.
Those of you that are not UK fans,
Hit the road, Jack, and don’t come back no more, no more.
Ray Charles
i don’t mind 8 god. i’m pretty sure he is actually a dukie. but i don’t ever ecall him talking shit. just shows up around this time of year and drops some duke updates. but yeah that UL troll can absolutely allwo the door to hit his ass on the way out
Did they confuse this for the “Most likely to intentionally trip an opposing player due to bad defense” list?
That and most unlikable basketball player, those are the only two lists I could see him top.
I think we can all agree that Grayson Allen’s meteoric rise to the supposed best player in the country is laughable. And I also agree that Briscoe is one of the most undervalued players in the nation. In a man-to-man matchup between the two, I would take Briscoe every single time. And it isn’t close.
Allen isn’t even the best player on his own team, let alone the best in the country. But you can bet if he has a decent year, he will be right there in the NPOY voting simply because he’s the preseason favorite to win it.
I think everyone’s reaction (including yours) to this list is laughable. They arent dubbing him the next great one or anything close to that. It is a pre-season ranking that reflects the fact that he is a returning Junior who is coming off a 21p / 4.5r / 3.5a season for the preseason #1 team.
Its kind of like how the MVP award is usually bestowed to the leading (not always the best) player on the best team. its a simple preseason award that ultimately means nothing.
All this popularity contest stuff is just silly, especially this early in the year. Right now I wouldn’t say Monk has outperformed Bam or Isaak or Wenyen much less Isiah or Derrick. Later in the season I certainly hope so but not yet.
Eric?????
Yea … don’t have any idea why I did that
Bolden at #30 is almost as laughable as Allen at #1.
Amen brother amen
What about the Australian Hellian UK’s very own wonder down under?
I read this in a redneck mountain accent. Makes it even stupider.
There is no way Grayson allen will be drafted in the 1st round. late 2nd maybe but he will never make it in the NBA………….
He wont be starting by the end of the season.