The 2018–19 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

in the

2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2018. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded with the Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 8, 2019. Pract ...

. The team played its home games in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

for the 43rd consecutive season at

Rupp Arena Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center is an arena located in downtown Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Since its opening in 1976, it has been the centerpiece of Central Bank Center (formerly Lexington Center), a convention and shopping facility ...

, with a capacity of 20,500. The Wildcats, led by

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

in his 10th season as head coach, played in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Previous season

The

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

finished the 2017–18 season 26–11, 10–8 in SEC play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth. In the SEC tournament, the Wildcats defeated

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

to win the tournament championship for the 31st time in school history. As a result, the Wildcats received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 5 seed in the South region, they defeated No. 12 Davidson and No. 13 Buffalo to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. There, they lost to No. 9-seeded

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

Offseason

Departures

On April 2, 2018, Tai Wynyard announced that he would be transferring from Kentucky. On April 6, Kevin Knox II announced that he would declare for the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including internationa ...

and would hire an agent, forgoing his remaining eligibility. On April 9,

Sacha Killeya-Jones Sacha Liam Killeya-Jones (born August 10, 1998) is an American-British professional basketball player for Kawasaki Brave Thunders of the B.League. He played college basketball for Kentucky. High school career Killeya-Jones grew up playing foo ...

announced he would be transferring as well. Also, on April 9,

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Shaivonte Aician Gilgeous-Alexander ( ; born July 12, 1998), also known by his initials SGA, is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year of college ...

announced that he would declare for the draft and would be hiring an agent, forgoing his remaining NCAA eligibility. On April 16,

Hamidou Diallo Hamidou Diallo (born July 31, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Shanxi Loongs of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball, Kentucky Wildcats. He w ...

also announced that he would declare for the draft and hire an agent. Three other players announced their entry in the draft, but did not initially hire agents, giving them the option to return to Kentucky. P. J. Washington declared for the draft on April 3, followed by

Wenyen Gabriel Wenyen Gabriel (born March 26, 1997) is a South Sudanese-American professional basketball player who last played for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basketball League (GBL) and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats, a ...

on April 18 and Jarred Vanderbilt on April 20. On May 30, 2018, the NCAA's final day to announce a return, Washington announced he would return for a sophomore season. Jarred Vanderbilt and

announced on May 30, 2018, that they would remain in the 2018 NBA Draft and forgo their remaining college eligibility.

2018 recruiting class

Immanuel Quickley, from

Havre de Grace, Maryland Havre de Grace (), abbreviated HdG, is a city in Harford County, Maryland, Harford County, Maryland, United States. It is situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and the head of Chesapeake Bay. It is named after the port city of Le Havre ...

, was the first commitment to Kentucky's 2018 class. He committed to Kentucky on September 22, over offers from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He was a consensus five-star prospect and was ranked the consensus No. 12 overall player by the four main recruiting services. The Wildcats' second 2018 commitment was Keldon Johnson, a small forward from

South Hill, Virginia South Hill is a town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,709 at the 2020 census. Located on major Interstate and U.S. highways, it has a full-service hospital (serving patients from several rural counties), a t ...

, who committed on November 11. Kentucky beat out

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

for Johnson's signature. He was also a consensus five-star prospect and ranked by ESPN as its No. 7 overall prospect. Tyler Herro was the third commitment for Kentucky's 2018 class. Formerly committed to

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, Herro committed to Kentucky the week after his official visit. Herro was a consensus four-star prospect and was ranked the No. 4 shooting guard in the 2018 class by ESPN. E.J. Montgomery was the fourth commitment for Kentucky's 2018 class. Formerly committed to Auburn, he re-opened his recruitment after the Auburn staff was implicated in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball corruption scandal. Montgomery committed to Kentucky on April 9, 2018. Montgomery was a five-star prospect and was ranked No. 12 in the 2018 class. On April 10, 2018, Ashton Hagans committed to the University of Kentucky over offers from

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Hagans was originally the second commitment in the 2019 recruiting class and the No. 1 ranked point guard in the class of 2019 by 247 sports. On June 15, 2018, Hagans announced that he would be reclassifying into the 2018 class and play for the Cats in the upcoming season, thus making him the fifth recruit in the class of 2018.

Incoming transfers

On June 20, 2018, Reid Travis announced that he would transfer to Kentucky. Travis was a two-time first team All-Pac-12 for

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and averaged 19.5 PPG and 8.7 RPG in his final year with the Cardinal. As a grad transfer, he is eligible to play immediately.

Roster

* Roster is subject to change as/if players transfer or leave the program for other reasons.

Depth chart

Schedule and results

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Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball seasons Kentucky basketball, men, 2018-19 Kentucky basketball, men