Shaedon Sharpe confirms he is staying in NBA draft, ending UK stint without playing a game

LEXINGTON — The Shaedon Sharpe saga is finally finished for Kentucky basketball.

The former No. 1-ranked recruit in the class of 2022, who enrolled at UK in January but only practiced with the Wildcats, announced Tuesday he will remain in the NBA draft, ending his college career without ever playing a game. Sharpe's camp and Kentucky coach John Calipari initially promised he was practicing during the spring semester in order to better prepare for a starring role for Kentucky next season, but it became clear that plan had changed when Sharpe declared for the draft in April.

Even after multiple national reports suggested Sharpe had already decided to start his professional career, Sharpe announced he was maintaining his college eligibility while testing the draft waters.

"All I can tell you is he may do this, but it is not done," Calipari said the next day in an appearance on Sports Talk with Dan Issel and Mike Pratt.

"Shaedon knows I want to coach him. Shaedon knows Oscar (Tshiebwe) is coming back. Don’t let all the negative stuff affect your decision. If you want to come back, that should play no part. Let that alone."

Kentucky basketball: This is Dominique Hawkins' advice for John Calipari's 3-star recruit Adou Thiero

We may never know if Sharpe was serious about possibly returning to Kentucky after he declared for the draft, but the final decision is the one reported by ESPN and The Athletic before his announcement. He could now join Enes Kanter as the two Kentucky players picked in the Top 10 of the NBA draft despite not actually playing a game for the Wildcats.

Kanter was declared ineligible by the NCAA after he enrolled at Kentucky in 2010, though. Calipari chose not to play Sharpe, deferring to the plan developed by his mentor and parents.

In its most recent mock draft, ESPN projected Sharpe to be picked at No. 7 overall.

Kentucky basketball: Can offensive game match freshman Cason Wallace's defensive work?

Calipari publicly flirted with the idea of playing Sharpe in late January and early February before announcing on Feb. 7 that the 6-foot-6, 200-pound guard would not play after all. The next night following a win over South Carolina, Calipari laid out the argument for Sharpe to return to school, predicting that he if did so Sharpe would be the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA draft.

Even after injuries affected the effectiveness of Kentucky's backcourt late in the season, Sharpe remained on Kentucky's bench.

"I think that was what was best for him is how we did it," Calipari said when asked about Sharpe after Kentucky's shocking NCAA Tournament loss to No. 15-seed Saint Peter's. "Would he have been a good player this year? Yeah, he'd been pretty good. He'd have been pretty good. But he joined us midseason. Trying to get him up to all the stuff that we were doing was hard.

"Then it came a point late, maybe we could have him in there. We just, you know, together, chose, let's just wait."

While Calipari previously argued Sharpe should not settle for a lottery selection this year if he could improve his draft stock by playing at Kentucky next season, the Hall of Fame coach's tone changed in a Tuesday appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show hours before Sharpe's announcement.

"Circumstances changed," Calipari said. "Now, for me, I want to coach the kid, I want him back at Kentucky, but if he’s a top-10 pick and he’s your son, it’s a hard one. ... If he’s a top-10 pick, 8 pick, 7, it’s not that hard (of a decision). I just don’t want our fans to be mad at him for doing something he probably has to do if that’s the case."

UK basketball roster tracker: Who's in and who's out for the Kentucky's 2022-23 squad?

Kentucky technically does not have to replace Sharpe's production since he never played for the Wildcats, but Calipari clearly built his 2022 recruiting class with the idea Sharpe's elite three-level scoring ability would be the centerpiece.

There is no like-for-like replacement for Sharpe's talents on the roster or in the transfer portal. Calipari's best hope is that guards Cason Wallace, Chris Livingston, C.J. Fredrick Antonio Reeves and Adou Thiero — none of whom played for Kentucky last season — can account for that scoring as a group while returners Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler, Jacob Toppin, Daimion Collins and Lance Ware up their production from a year ago.

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ. 

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Shaedon Sharpe: Kentucky basketball guard will stay in NBA draft