Projected Kentucky Basketball Starting Five?

Did you like how I picked a picture of John Calipari to feature this article? That's right, I'm the captain right now. For this very moment, let me have my wishes. Okay?

With basketball season finally here, and Kentucky's first exhibition coming in only a week from today, I've been thinking a lot about what kind of starting five I'd like to see put out on the court. First off, this prediction represents my prediction only and not necessarily the others here in the Cats Coverage world, but I am very interested to see what you all think of my selection. Let me know what you would change if any thing.

Assuming Ugonna Onyenso and Aaron Bradshaw are not eligible for the first round of the starting five picks come the beginning of the season, here's what I've come up with.

PG: DJ Wagner

SG: Antonio Reeves

SF: Justin Edwards

PF: Jordan Burks C: Tre Mitchell

The five that will start the season will be a little weird to me. Aaron Bradshaw will firmly be in that first crew once healthy, Reed Sheppard will get a lot of minutes in the core of the first 2-3 coming off the bench, and I expect Big Z to as well. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see Rob Dillingham and Adou Thiero mixed in that 6-8th man rotation as the season progresses. Thankfully, it seems Kentucky has a lot of depth this year at guard play and there are a few quality combinations we could see to start the year off. The offseason injuries definitely throw a mix into what seems logically correct, but for now, this is my five under the current circumstances.

If everyone was healthy from day one, I’d take my same prediction with Zvonimir Ivisic/Tre Mitchell and Aaron Bradshaw at the four and five. I think my three guards aren’t controversial at all and I feel like most people will have the same. Reeves is a lock, DJ Wagner is a lock, and I'm confident in saying Justin Edwards is a lock. If we get to a point where either of those three aren't a lock to start, essentially meaning they haven't played well enough to retain that position, then this team would have a lot more problems to worry about.

Going off that, I also believe that for this team to reach its ideal success this season, Antonio Reeves, one of the big men, and one more additional guard all three have to be the best players on this offense. I think anything short of that would limit the potential of this team and create a quick ending to what can be an exciting year. Once healthy all around, we have a lot of depth at every position and not just that, they are all quality depth in skill for each player. The talent is abundant and Calipari is the correct guy to use that talent in one well-oiled system.

This fanbase is desperately needing to have some Kentucky Basketball success and with this kind of roster, I'd would lean to think there would be no excuses to why they couldn't accomplish something great. This is the roster the head coach wants and the ball is in his court now.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. If you enjoyed it, please follow Cats Coverage on Facebook and/or Twitter so that you can keep up with your Kentucky Wildcats on a daily basis.