John Calipari updates status of Skal Labissiere and Alex Poythress

Senior Alex Poythress will be one of the few players with experience at the college level in the starting lineup to start the season.

Calipari has said numerous times that Labissiere will have no problems becoming eligible, and that the process will likely extend until Kentucky’s first game against Albany on November. 13. There are allegations that Skal’s guardian, Gerald Hamilton, asked about making profit off of Skal during his high school career, which has led the NCAA to investigate.

When asked about the eligibility of Labissiere, Calipari was evasive, but said he feels good things will turn out OK.

“Everything is good to go”. “There’s probably 50 players that have a review”.

He said the NCAA delayed clearing five players last year and other players had also been checked on this year. “You won’t believe this: It’s always the best players that get the review”. He told The Courier-Journal in April: “I’ll be able to play right away”.

He added: “I think my team will be fine, and you guys will figure it out when we go out there the first day and everybody’s got uniforms on”.

Head coach John Calipari said he was in Las Vegas and heard that posted odds are 30-1, that Kentucky will have a 40-0 record and win the national title next spring. Cal says having more guards will be an adjustment early on in the seaosn. “He’s going to be a beast”. Torn ACLs can take as long as a full year to fully come back from, which means we may not see Poythress playing like his beastly self until we’re into December.