…with the young guys like Demin and Catchings seeing a bigger role as they get adjusted to the speed and physicality of D-1/Big12 play and as they start to be quicker with reacting to defensive rotations and coverages, resulting in reduced roles for guys with limited games like Trevin Knell or even Mawot Mag.

I think for KYU to work the way KY wants it to (be an NBA development program) the guys that are identified as potential one-and-done guys (or two-and-done) won’t develop while sitting and watching on the bench. They will need to get enough playing time their freshman year to get a legit shot at being a 1st round pick or lottery pick by the end of that season.

Out of the gate, KY has one year to make this new rep stick (being an NBA development guy). If we blow it this first season and don’t get at least one of the two (Demin or Catchings) drafted in the 1st round, KY’s claims will start to ring hollow in the minds of the top level HS recruits that he’s going after and they’ll go elsewhere.

Also for the freshman who aren’t one or two-and-done guys (like an Elijah Crawford or Koz) they still will need to get enough of a role in the rotation their first year to avoid feeling the urge to transfer. With the amount of time and energy that’s going to be put into developing individual players for the NBA, coaches aren’t going to want to see the time they invest going to waste (who wants to coach a player up only to be a star somewhere else?).

This might be a different aspect of KY’s coaching staff and how he does rotations and divvy’s up time vs what we saw from Pope.