CHICAGO – The national preseason hype centered on Duke’s Marvin Bagley III and Missouri’s Michael Porter Jr., a pair of freshmen who will fight for the No. 1 spot in next summer’s NBA draft.
DeAndre Ayton’s arrival at Arizona made Sean Miller’s first trip to the Final Four seem possible and perhaps likely come April. Grayson Allen and Miles Bridges had returned to torch the field anew. Kansas and Villanova entered the year stacked with the talent to reach the last weekend of the season again.
But where was the perennial, they-could-win-it-all buzz for Kentucky?
John Calipari had assembled another flock of five-stars – per the norm – but Kevin Knox and P.