It was not a surprise for a coach who was synonymous with teams built around one-and-done freshmen, but John Calipari all but loathed the “make the game older” impact that the NCAA-granted “one free COVID year” has had on men’s college basketball.

The presence of players using a fifth season of college eligibility — like, say, Oakland’s 3-point marksman Jack Gohlke — made it harder for a freshman-dominated roster such as the one Calipari constructed for Kentucky in 2023-24 to succeed.

No UK backer needs to be reminded that Gohlke rifled in 10 treys and scored 32 points last month to lead No. 14 seed Oakland to a stunning 80-76 NCAA Tournament upset of No. 3 seed Kentucky.

In what turned out to be Calipari’s final game as UK’s head coach, his team with eight scholarship freshmen was shot down by a “super senior” who had spent his previous four seasons playing for NCAA Division II Hillsdale College.

Given that history, there is a touch of irony in the extent that Mark Pope, Calipari’s successor as UK men’s basketball coach, is using super seniors to replenish a Kentucky roster that is expected to feature no returning scholarship players.

Since Calipari exited for Arkansas, Pope has gotten commitments from six players to play for UK in 2024-25. Of those six, three — Drexel transfer Amari Williams; San Diego State transfer Lamont Butler; and Wake Forest transfer Andrew Carr — will be using a fifth season of eligibility next year at Kentucky.

Carr (112 career college starts), Butler (102) and Williams (79), plus incoming Oklahoma transfer Otega Oweh (37), a junior-to-be, give UK 330 career college starts on its 2024-25 roster.

From just those four players, Kentucky will have more career starts on its roster entering next season than had all Calipari-coached UK teams but one. The 2021-22 Wildcats began that season with 367 career starts distributed among members of that team.

In the context of the almost $34 million buyout Kentucky would have owed Calipari had it fired him this offseason, there has been much commentary on how fortunate UK was that the coach found a departure route on his own that got UK off of that financial hook.

Yet it is also fortunate for Kentucky that Calipari exited at the time he did for a different reason. This coming school year is the final one in which there will be a full class of super seniors available.

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