Senior Day for the Cats Leaves Questions

Senior Day is Sunday at Rupp and the Cats are going to welcome Billy D and the Gators for the final showdown of the regular season. Normally I would do some topnotch game analysis and make accurate predictions about the game. I am going to forgo the usual for now and look at a more interesting topic: Will this be the last time we see Wall, Patterson and Cousins at Rupp arena for a game?

I read this article in the Courier-Journal and came away with more questions than I had before. Could one or two of these guys actually stay one more year? The one player that I am going to go ahead and say goodbye to is Wall. The way he talks in the article makes him sound like a guy already with his mind made up. With phrases like "it's been a privilege" I can pretty much guess what he is going to do. Good for him. I am happy for Wall and I am grateful, as most Cats fans are, that he came to UK and blew us all away with his amazing talent. He was as good off of the court as he was on it. Cal talked about how good of a student he is and Wall has expressed interest in finishing his degree, much like the Shaqtus, in the future. He also discusses how great it is playing for the fans and how they make him want to stay. UK fans have that effect on their players.

That leaves me thinking about two guys: Patterson and Cousins. Patterson is likely gone as well. He already will have his degree as a Junior, just like Mama PatPat wanted. He eludes to possibly returning, much like Tyler Hansborough, if he doesn't get a ring. If he gets a ring it is 100% that he is gone. If not, I give him a 75% chance of staying. The lure of a national title and one more year under the tutelage of Calipari might entice him just enough. He could up his draft status even more.

And now for Boogie. According to Cal, Cousins has already expressed a desire to come back for another year with the Big Blue. He clearly loves the college atmosphere. He attends the women's basketball games and has a blast doing interviews with the local media. He is not mentally ready for the NBA and could benefit from staying and maturing one more year. He is already physically an NBA player. I think there is a 50% percent chance he returns.

If all three of them go then I think the Cats are still going to be very good. Bledsoe, Liggins, Orton, and Miller will all be back. Brandon Knight, Josh Selby, Doron Lamb and C.J. Leslie have all named Kentucky finalists for schools they would play for.

Let's not think about it too much though. There is still a lot of basketball left to be played and a national title to win. Let's beat Florida and take it from there.