5 questions John Calipari, Kentucky basketball must answer to make Final Four this season

LEXINGTON — At many schools across the country, annually making the NCAA Tournament would be cause for celebration. Win a game or two during the Big Dance? Even better.

But at Kentucky, expectations are higher. Far higher.

Boasting eight national titles, 17 Final Fours and record marks for NCAA Tournament victories (130) and appearances (60), UK is March Madness royalty.

The crown has been slightly askew in recent seasons, though.

The Wildcats haven't made a Final Four since 2015. Nor a national championship since 2012.

Even getting close to that point has been a struggle lately: Kentucky hasn't made it out of the first weekend since 2019, when it reached the Elite Eight.

For coach John Calipari and the Wildcats to remain among the final teams standing in 2023-24, here are five questions they must answer this season:

When will injured big men Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso actually play?

During his time in the main room at SEC Media Days in Birmingham, Alabama, last week, Calipari threw up his arms and shrugged. He joked that he "never" should give timelines for injured players to return to the court, because whenever he does, it snowballs and the injured party ends up missing more time than initially suspected. In this case, Calipari was referring to comments he made during Kentucky's pro day earlier this month, when he told ESPN that injured 7-footers Aaron Bradshaw and Ugonna Onyenso — both are battling foot ailments — would be ready to go in "five to six weeks."

Calipari declined to further update the timetable at the conference media get-together, refusing to speculate whether either could be cleared in time to suit up for the season opener, which is Nov. 6 versus New Mexico State. The only insight Calipari provided was that Bradshaw's recovery is a little ahead of Onyenso's, since the latter's injury occurred more recently. Calipari added that both will be fine long term, pointing out their respective injuries, and subsequent surgeries, were "pretty common." The silver lining, Calipari said, is that both got bigger and stronger "because they could not jump around," estimating each player gained 20 to 25 pounds of muscle weight.

If Calipari's initial timeline is accurate, the earliest either would make their debut is the aforementioned opener, while the latest would be Nov. 20 against Saint Joseph's using the six-week prediction. Regardless of when they finally take the floor in a live game, Bradshaw and Onyenso will be big boosts — figuratively and literally — to a UK frontcourt whose tallest eligible player is 6-foot-9 senior Tre Mitchell.

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What can freshman center Zvonimir Ivišić bring to the table once he settles in?

After a two-month ordeal involving his enrollment, freshman center Zvonimir Ivišić finally was admitted as a university student in October. Now, the only remaining hurdle for him to hit the court this season involves NCAA clearance: The organization must rule he's retained amateur status after playing in overseas professional leagues the last few years.

At SEC Media Days, Calipari said he's confident Ivišić's NCAA eligibility won't hit any snags and the 7-2 Croatian — he would be the tallest player to appear in a game for Kentucky during Calipari's 15-year tenure — will be able to resume his career. Though Ivišić was slated to appear in UK's Blue-White preseason scrimmage over the weekend before being held out as a precaution, Calipari pumped the brakes on the "Big Z" — the coach's nickname for the new addition — hype train days earlier in Birmingham.

"Because it took so long to get him here, every week that went by, he got better and better and bigger. ... Oh, my gosh, he's King Kong," Calipari said. "All of a sudden each week that went by, he got better and better. He's a piece to the puzzle for us. He's 7-2, pretty skilled. ... (But) if you think he's ready to walk in, dominate a game, you're not thinking right. He's not."

Even if he won't dominate from Day 1, his size and shooting ability — he made 34% of his shots beyond the 3-point arc during the FIBA U20 European Championship this past summer — give the Wildcats a rare weapon in college basketball.

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With Oscar Tshiebwe gone, who grabs (most of) the rebounds for Wildcats?

Oscar Tshiebwe had a standout two-season career in Lexington. Among a dizzying array of accomplishments, one feat he achieved was leading the nation in rebounds per game in back-to-back seasons. No single player — on Kentucky's roster or elsewhere — could replicate Tshiebwe's rebounding numbers on their own.

But Tshiebwe's not all UK is replacing: The top-six rebounders on the 2022-23 roster, in terms of boards per game, are gone; the leading returnee in that category is senior guard Antonio Reeves, who pulled down 2.1 a contest (and had only 72 total rebounds in 34 games).

Crashing the boards in 2023-24, then, will be a group effort, likely keyed early on by Mitchell, who will have to hold down the fort until Bradshaw and Onyenso are healthy and Ivišić's amateur status is cleared. In four college seasons — two at UMass and then one at Texas and West Virginia, respectively — Mitchell has averaged 5.9 rebounds per game.

Still, others also will have to step up their rebounding aptitude with the three 7-footers unavailable for now; perhaps sophomore Adou Thiero or freshman Jordan Burks, who are listed as guards despite both standing 6-8?

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Other than Antonio Reeves, who will provide 3-point shooting?

Much like the Wildcats' rebounds, most of Kentucky's long-range shooting from last season has departed. Reeves led the team in 3-point makes last season, with 80. The next-best tally among returning players? Thiero. With three.

On paper, at least, there is positive news in the form of the bevy of newcomers. Despite their height, Bradshaw, Ivišić and Mitchell are comfortable setting up and firing behind the 3-point line. Freshman guards Reed Sheppard and Joey Hart arrived with reputations as deadly sharpshooters. And while it's not their most pronounced skill, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards and D.J. Wagner are capable of knocking down shots from distance as well.

Bottom line: Options abound. But the Wildcats must prove their 3-point competency to opponents to avoid relying too heavily on Reeves.

More from C.L. Brown: UK roster equipped to launch 3s like never before under Calipari

Can Kentucky bench provide more scoring pop?

When UK had to turn to its bench last season, it struggled. Immensely. The Wildcats' backups averaged 17.29 points per game, which ranked 215th nationally (of 352 teams). It was the second-worst average among SEC squads, ahead of only South Carolina (10.53 per game). Given the varied skill sets of the players on the 2023-24 roster, Calipari can mix and match the lineup to his whim.

At the outset of the season, assuming Bradshaw and Onyenso are out, the starting five likely will be Wagner, Reeves, Edwards, Thiero and Mitchell — the lineup Kentucky used in two of its four games at the GLOBL JAM tournament, including its 89-72 victory in the championship tilt versus Canada. During that event, nearly every UK player who took the floor showcased an ability to put the ball in the basket.

It's possible that two of the team's most talented pure scorers, Dillingham (MVP of the 2021 FIBA Americas U16 Championship after averaging 15.7 points per game) and Burks (led the Overtime Elite league in points per game during the 2022-23 regular season at 27.1), will be reserves during the 2023-24 campaign. Which should supply far more instant offense off the bench than last season.

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Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball: Questions for a John Calipari NCAA Tournament run