The Kentucky trio of freshman point guard Brandon Knight, freshman swingman Terrence Jones and junior defensive specialist DeAndre Liggins all declared for June's NBA draft on Wednesday.
None of the three signed with agents, and, at best, UK coach John Calipari can likely only hope that one of the three decides to return next season to add an extra splash of experience to another young roster.
Knight and Jones lived up to the hype in their rookie seasons, as both were bona fide bluechip recruits coming in.
The 6-foot-3 Knight led the team in scoring (17.3 ppg) and only got better as the season progressed, both as a scorer and floor general. He'll likely be remembered by the Wildcat faithful for his NCAA tournament heroics, including game-clinching daggers in the opener against Princeton, then in the Sweet Sixteen against the tourney's top overall seed, Ohio State.
Jones averaged 15.7 points per outing and a team-best 8.8 rebounds per game. He showed the ability this season to play all five positions on the floor, and was marked by many as a potential lottery pick before every setting foot on campus. That sure didn't change.
Make no mistake, it would take a massive letdown in workouts over the next few weeks to get either Knight or Jones to return for a sophomore season, but Liggins' case is a bit more interesting.
It took some time, but one of the few holdovers from the Billy Gillispie Era finally blossomed under Calipari. He averaged career bests in points (8.6), field goal percentage (42.4), 3-point percentage (39.1), rebounds (4.0) and steals (1.2) as a junior. At 6-foot-6, he was UK's resident defensive pest, and there's no question that he could play a similar role at the next level.
The question is whether Liggins can prove himself enough as a reliable offensive threat during workouts leading up to the draft in order to secure a spot in the first round with guaranteed money. Even without that guarantee, it's no cinch that Liggins, who just had his first child during the season, would come back.
But Kentucky could use him.
The two key returners already in place from UK's Final Four team are sophomore-to-be Doron Lamb, who on Tuesday announced his plans to shun the draft, and senior-to-be Darius Miller. Of course, there will be enough talent in place to win big again, given another loaded haul from the recruiting trail, led by point guard Marquis Teague and small forward Mike Gilchrist.
But a team top-heavy with freshmen takes time to click, as the Wildcats saw this season with their brutal road struggles throughout much of the season.
Getting at least Liggins back would significantly lighten the load on the incoming freshmen, likely cut down the length of that transition period and make Kentucky that much more of a threat to get back to college hoops' biggest stage.
Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for the Las Vegas Sun. Read his Rebels coverage and follow him on Twitter.
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