Head Coach: John Calipari
2008-09 Record (SEC): 22–14 (8–8)
2008-09 Postseason: NIT: Defeated UNLV 70–60, defeated Creighton 65–63, lost to Notre Dame 77–67 in the quarterfinals
Key Loss: G Jodie Meeks (23.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.3 spg)

2009-10 SEC East Prediction: 1st

John Calipari has heard Kentucky basketball fans talking about national titles. He’s seen the way they’ve latched on to their charismatic new coach. He’s watched the way fans of a recently staggering program have found their swagger again.

Calipari can relate. “I can feel their excitement, but they’re not more excited than me,” Calipari says. “I’m so excited to be here, to lead this program, to rebuild the brand back to what it used to be. The banners, the recruits — all the stuff that the people of Kentucky want, I want more.”

In just a few months, Calipari has positioned himself to get it. The former Memphis coach was hired April 1 and even at that late date managed to assemble the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class — including the nation’s top point guard, John Wall.

Calipari will place his talented new pieces around junior forward Patrick Patterson to construct a team that will be short on experience but long on talent.

Last year, Kentucky fans endured the inexcusable. The Wildcats missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991, losing in the third round of the NIT. That contributed to the decision to fire head coach Billy Gillispie and move forward with Calipari, a coach who built winners at Massachusetts and Memphis and maintains that he’s long dreamed of coaching at Kentucky.

“They talk about pressure to win here,” Calipari says. “Let me tell you something: One, I don’t need the job. Two, I don’t need the money. I’ll put more pressure on me than anybody else will put on me. If we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, this is going to be fun.”

Frontcourt

Patterson’s will be the most familiar face on the court for the Cats, but his game might be almost unrecognizable. The 6'9" power forward spent part of his summer in San Francisco working with trainers to add speed and quickness in the hope that he can step out to the perimeter in Calipari’s dribble-drive motion offense.

Patterson will have more frontcourt help than in either of his first two seasons at Kentucky, thanks to an influx of new talent. UK will boast a skilled tandem of freshmen inside, with DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton likely to battle for a starting position.

Swingman Darius Miller could be poised for a big sophomore season. Among returning players, Miller looked like the best fit for Calipari’s system during spring workouts.

Last season, Ramon Harris and Perry Stevenson started a combined 62 games. This year, the seniors likely will provide frontcourt depth off the bench, along with forward Josh Harrellson.

Backcourt

The backcourt buzz begins with Wall, perhaps the most highly touted point guard ever to arrive at Kentucky. YouTube highlight videos of Wall — whom many analysts expect to be the top player taken in the 2010 NBA Draft — already are the stuff of legend in the Bluegrass.

With so much hype following Wall to Lexington, it’s no wonder that Calipari is reluctant to talk him up further.

“It’s John Wall,” Calipari says. “You don’t need to say much.”

The coach is more likely to sling superlatives about his other freshman point guard, Eric Bledsoe. The 6'1" Bledsoe, Calipari says, has a 40-inch vertical and a 6'8" wingspan and “plays like he’s 6'5".”

“Those two need to be on the floor together a lot,” Calipari says. “The greatest thing is, this offense was designed for two point guards.”

If there’s a void for the Wildcats, it’s at shooting guard, where Jodie Meeks elected to turn pro after a junior season in which he set UK’s single-game scoring record with 54 points against Tennessee.

Kentucky could go big and play junior college transfer Darnell Dodson at shooting guard. Calipari says the sophomore “can flat-out shoot the ball,” and adds that freshman Jon Hood and sophomore DeAndre Liggins also will get a crack at perimeter playing time.

Final Analysis

The hype in Lexington has built to a deafening roar, but Calipari is cautious. He has six newcomers, and none of his players ever has played in his dribble-drive system, which he says is “the opposite end of the spectrum” from Gillispie’s high-low offense. But Wall and Patterson alone might make Kentucky an NCAA Tournament team. With the talent Calipari has amassed, the Wildcats should be contenders, at least, for an SEC crown and a trip to the Final Four.