People are still picking their jaws up from the floor after the stunning first-round 80-76 upset victory by the No. 14 Oakland Golden Grizzlies over the No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats Thursday night in Pittsburgh. It was a painful loss, to say the least, for John Calipari and his men.
The bad taste of that loss will not go away anytime soon for Kentucky, which featured eight freshmen on its roster. Which brings us to a point raised by former Villanova Wildcats head coach Jay Wright, who knows a thing or two about going deep in the NCAA Tournament and winning the Big Dance.
Jay Wright Drops Huge Take After Witnessing The Kentucky Wildcats Fall Prey To Oakland
Wright said that the disparity in terms of youth and experience played a huge role in the wild result of the unforgettable game between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Golden Grizzlies.
“The era of taking these young freshmen and trying to play against older players is over. I think he did a phenomenal job with these guys all year getting them to be as successful as they were. You can see they’re playing against grown men. The guys on Kentucky will be far better pros than any of these guys on Oakland or any of these guys in the tournament. But they’re not as good college basketball players,” said Wright, who won a couple of national title with Villanova.
“At this point in their career, they’re not as disciplined yet as the guys from Oakland. It’s not Cal’s fault. It’s they’re 18 years old, and they’re in this era where everyone’s telling them how great they are. Just show up in college and you’re gonna win. It doesn’t happen that way. And the more the guys stay in college because of NIL, it’s gonna be tougher for young teams like this to be successful.”
Wright’s point can be illuminated further by the fact that the biggest single thorn in the side of the Wildcats in the Oakland game was 24-year-old graduate transfer Jack Gohlke, who went off for 32 points on 10/20 shooting from the field –with all made field goals and attempts coming from behind the arc. Oakland also has just one freshman on its roster and 11 upperclassmen.
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