Recruiting misses add pressure on EJ Montgomery, Nick Richards for Kentucky basketball

LEXINGTON - John Calipari is not used to recruiting failures at Kentucky.

But it would be difficult to look at the Wildcats’ efforts to land a big man in the 2020 cycle and describe them any other way.

James Wiseman, the No. 1 prospect in the class, was long considered a Kentucky lean but signed with Memphis when the Tigers hired Penny Hardaway, his high school and AAU coach. Fellow five-star big men Isaiah Stewart (Washington), Vernon Carey (Duke), Jaden McDaniels (Washington), N’Faly Dante (Oregon), Matthew Hurt (Duke) and Oscar Tshiebwe (West Virginia) all considered Kentucky before picking other schools.

For the first time as Kentucky’s coach, Calipari did not sign a true post player in his high school recruiting class. The Hall of Fame coach added stretch forward Nate Sestina as a graduate transfer from Bucknell, but he missed on another big man graduate transfer when Preseason SEC Player of the Year Kerry Blackshear picked Florida over Kentucky.

“I thought it was important,” Calipari said of adding another big man to his roster. “…I would’ve liked to (add a big man) But I’ll be honest: the best teams I’ve coached, we played six or seven guys.”

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The rare recruiting strikeout leaves Kentucky in an unusual situation.

Calipari, ever the salesman, describes it as an “opportunity” for Sestina and returning forwards Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery, but asked what he still needs to learn about his team, Calipari acknowledged even he is not sure if the roster is physical enough.

According to Calipari, Richards is “more confident than he’s ever been,” Montgomery is physically stronger and “more consistent with his skills” and Sestina is “better than I thought he was.”

But even Calipari would acknowledge all three of Kentucky’s big men face questions to one extent or another.

“If you get roughed up, can you still play, can you still perform?” Calipari said. “Do we have the physical, mental toughness? ...  Okay, so you work on that and you're banging each other and you're hitting, we got to get tougher. What happens? Somebody gets hurt then.”

Calipari has only had nine scholarship players at his disposal during preseason practice as freshman wing Dontaie Allen works his way back from a torn ACL. With only three true post players on the roster, freshman forwards Keion Brooks and Kahlil Whitney have been forced to play the four on one team in five-on-five situations.

While Calipari has generally preferred to play two traditional big men together, those smaller lineups figure to be a necessity for Kentucky at times this season even if the three big men all reach their potential.

“A small-ball lineup is good because me and Kahlil are both athletic,” Brooks said. “We’re not afraid of contact and we’re both willing rebounders. I feel like playing small can help us get out in transition faster, switch a lot and just be versatile on offense, having more floor spacing and more dribble-drive opportunities to the basket.”

Brooks in particular looks like a valuable weapon as a small-ball four able to exploit taller defenders, but those lineups might surrender something on the defensive end, where Calipari general devotes much of his focus. Playing an undersized four does not solve the physicality problem either.

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The pressure remains on Montgomery and Richards to step up then.

Both big men watched PJ Washington return to school as a sophomore, rededicate himself and work his way into the NBA draft lottery. Richards, a junior, is already a year behind that career path, but came to basketball later in life than most of his peers.

“I saw (Washington) work hard, finishing sprints and change his body,” Montgomery said. “That’s the things I’m trying to do.”

Confidence has been a problem for both big men, especially Richards, thus far in their Kentucky careers.

A year ago, both players had a legitimate complaint about not being able to work through mistakes on the floor. With the pressure to win now at Kentucky, Calipari had little reason not to lean on Washington and Reid Travis in his frontcourt given how productive they were.

Montgomery averaged 15.1 minutes per game as a freshman. Richards averaged 12.1 minutes per game as a sophomore. In the Elite Eight loss to Auburn, they combined for eight minutes.

Not being able to play enough is a concern no longer.

“One of the nicest kids I’ve coached here is Nick,” Calipari said. “…Starting to feel better about who he is and how he is and more confident. Now, can we get him to be consistent? Here’s the good news. He’s going to have every minute he needs to be consistent.”

Calipari hinted that Kentucky will need to play games against outside competition before the physicality question can be answered.

With Washington and Travis gone, the Wildcats lack a bruiser to throw against Richards and Montgomery in practice. And while Richards predicted guarding smaller players in practice will bring its own benefit for matchups against perimeter-oriented teams, as the 2016 Kentucky proved when it lost to Indiana and Thomas Bryant in the NCAA Tournament, the wrong matchup could derail a season.

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"Now you're playing against a player that's a football player that's trying to just say, 'I know I can't play you, I'm going to try to rough you up,'" Calipari said. "Can you hold your ground? Can you sustain your confidence in that kind of situation? Until we start playing games, who will know."

It is difficult to imagine Kentucky making a Final Four run without Richards and Montgomery taking significant steps forward. Should they struggle, the performances of the big men Calipari missed on as recruits will be a constant shadow over the season.

Success for Montgomery and Richards will allow Calipari to spin those losses as wins for Kentucky in the long run. And even with a shallower-than-normal front court, Kentucky still boasts more talent there than almost every team it will face in the regular season.

“We didn’t get a big (recruit), but we still have three great bigs in EJ, Nick and Nate,” Brooks said. “I’m confident in what we’ve got.”

Jon Hale:jahale@courier-journal.com; Twitter:@JonHale_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today:www.courier-journal.com/jonh.