The 2015–16 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Lexington, Kentucky for the 40th consecutive season at Rupp Arena, with a capacity of 23,500. The team was led by John Calipari, in his seventh season. They were a member of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 27–9, 13–5 in SEC play to win a share of the SEC regular season championship. They defeated Alabama, Georgia, and Texas A&M to be champions of the SEC tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where they defeated Stony Brook in the first round to advance to the second round where they lost to Indiana.

Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes 1 Guard 206 Grand Rapids, Michigan Entered 2015 NBA draft 2 Guard 212 Fort Bend, Texas Entered 2015 NBA draft 5 Guard 212 Fort Bend, Texas Entered 2015 NBA draft 12 Forward 250 Piscataway, New Jersey Entered 2015 NBA draft 13 Guard 185 Scituate, Massachusetts Graduated 15 Center 240 Olathe, Kansas Entered 2015 NBA draft 21 Guard 190 Lexington, Kentucky Graduated 32 Guard 155 Dumont, New Jersey Graduated 41 Forward 235 Indianapolis, Indiana Entered 2015 NBA draft 44 Center 255 Brooklyn, New York Entered 2015 NBA draft

2015–16 newcomers

Isaiah Briscoe, originally from Newark, New Jersey, was the third highest rated point guard that Calipari had signed at Kentucky. He committed to Kentucky on November 13, live on ESPNU. He chose Kentucky over St. John's. He was the nation's consensus top point guard, was ranked the consensus No. 13 overall player by the four main recruiting services Rivals, ESPN, Scout, and 24/7 Sports. He helped lead Team USA at the 2014 FIBA Americans U18 Championships to a gold medal. He was a McDonald's All-America and Jordan Brand Classic game selection.

Skal Labissière, originally from Haiti, was a consensus top five player in the 2015 class. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee from his home country after an earthquake disaster in January 2010. Labissière and Briscoe committed on the same night, minutes apart, on ESPNU. Labissière chose Kentucky over Memphis. Calipari has likened Labissière to former Wildcats Anthony Davis and Nerlens Noel.

Charles Matthews, originally from Chicago, Illinois, was the first commitment in the 2015 signing class on February 26, 2014. Once considered a top-15 player in class, Matthews finished in the top-60 recruits on the four recruiting services.

Mychal Mulder, originally from Windsor, Ontario, was the first signee after the conclusion of the 2015 season. Mulder helped lead Vincennes University to a 33–2 record, earned JUCO All-America honors and was rated the 13th-best junior-college prospect in the country by 247Sports.com's composite ranking. He chose Kentucky over Creighton, Indiana, and Wichita State at a press conference on April 28.

Jamal Murray, originally from Kitchener, Ontario, was the last signee for the 2016 season. Murray was originally a member of the 2016 recruiting class but reclassified to the 2015 class. Murray was rated a top-15 prospect by nearly every recruiting service and tabbed a consensus five-star recruit. Murray's stock began to soar following a breakout performance at the Nike Hoop Summit against the USA Basketball Team. He scored 30 points against the United States prior to a 29-point, 10-assist, eight-rebound effort in the BioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Game.

Pre-season

Roster On April 9 the University of Kentucky held a press conference for all players that intended to declare for the 2015 NBA draft. Seven players declared themselves eligible for the draft: Booker, Cauley-Stein, the Harrison twins (Aaron and Andrew), Johnson, Lyles, and Towns. On April 13, assistant coach Barry Rohrssen left the team to join the St. John's staff under new head coach Chris Mullin. On April 23 Poythress announced that he would return to Kentucky for his senior season. On April 28 Mulder announced his decision to attend Kentucky at press conference. On May 22 Tony Barbee, who served as special assistant to Calipari in 2015, was officially announced as Rohrssen's replacement on Calipari's staff. On June 24 Murray announced his decision to Kentucky televised on Canada's TSN, donning a Canadian flag. He chose Kentucky over Oregon. On August 20 it was announced that Humphries would reclassify from the 2016 class to the 2015 class to join the team for the season.

Off-season rankings The earliest preseason predictions were made the day after the 2015 NCAA tournament on April 7, before final decisions by college players about declaring for the 2015 NBA draft and before many high-school players signed a National Letter of Intent about their 2015 seasons. Despite the speculation that most of the 2015 roster would declare for the NBA draft, ESPN ranked Kentucky as its top ranked team for the 2015–16 season. Sporting News projected that Kentucky would be one of the top five teams. CBSSports.com ranked Kentucky as their number three team in their initial rankings.

Accolades and rankings The Southeastern Conference preseason media poll was released at the SEC Media Days in October, it predicted that Kentucky would win the championship. Skal Labissière and Tyler Ulis were named to the All-SEC First Team.

USA Today announced its initial coaches poll on October 15 with Kentucky ranked as No. 1 in the country, which was also shared with North Carolina. The Associated Press announced on October 31 that Kentucky was ranked No. 2 to start the season in its initial poll of the season.

Events On May 21 Kentucky released the non-conference portion of its schedule. The schedule is highlighted by marquee match-ups at Rupp Arena and across the country. Kentucky will travel to Chicago to play defending National Champion Duke in the annual Champions Classic, to Los Angeles to play UCLA for its first ever game at Pauley Pavilion, to Miami to play South Florida and former assistant Orlando Antigua, and to Brooklyn to play against Ohio State in the annual CBS Sports Classic. Kentucky will also host Arizona State and in-state rival Louisville. On August 19 the SEC released its schedule for the upcoming season.

Tickets for Big Blue Madness, Kentucky's version of Midnight Madness went on sale and sold out on October 2.

Big Blue Madness took place on October 16. The event debuted the team for the 2015–16 season. It included player introductions, a speech by Calipari, and a scrimmage.

The Blue-White scrimmage was the first live game for the team. It occurred at Rupp Arena on October 27. Tyler Ulis scored 10 points and added 15 assists as the White squad defeated the Blue squad 74 to 66.

2016–17 commitments and signees

Bam Adebayo, originally from Pinetown, North Carolina, was a consensus top 15 player in his class. He committed to Kentucky on November 17, live on ESPN's Mike & Mike simulcast radio show. He chose Kentucky over NC State and Auburn. He is ranked in the top 10 by Rivals (No. 6) and ESPN (No. 6). 247Sports (No. 14) and Scout (No. 15) tab him as a top-15 prospect in the 2016 class. He has prior USA Basketball experience and was named a MaxPreps All-American in 2013.

De'Aaron Fox, originally from Katy, Texas, was the second highest rated point guard that Calipari had signed at Kentucky. He committed to Kentucky on November 12, live on ESPNU. He chose Kentucky over Kansas, Louisville, and LSU. He was the nation's consensus top point guard, was ranked the consensus No. 3 overall player by the four main recruiting services Rivals, ESPN, Scout, and 24/7 Sports.

Wenyen Gabriel, originally from Manchester, New Hampshire, was the third commitment in the Kentucky class. He committed to Kentucky on October 1, live on the radio. He chose Kentucky over Connecticut, Duke, and Maryland. He was a consensus five star prospect, and was ranked the consensus No. 17 overall player by the four main recruiting services Rivals, ESPN, Scout, and 24/7 Sports.

Sacha Killeya-Jones, originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was the second commitment in the Kentucky class. He committed to Kentucky on October 1, live on the radio. He chose Kentucky over Connecticut, North Carolina, and Virginia. He was a consensus four star prospect, and was ranked the consensus No. 36 overall player by the four main recruiting services Rivals, ESPN, Scout, and 24/7 Sports.

Malik Monk, originally from Bentonville, Arkansas, was the second highest rated shooting guard that Calipari signed at Kentucky. He committed to Kentucky on November 18. He chose Kentucky over Arkansas where his brother, Marcus Monk, played college basketball and football. He was a consensus five star prospect, and was ranked the consensus No. 5 overall player by the four main recruiting services Rivals, ESPN, Scout, and 24/7 Sports.

Tai Wynyard, originally from Auckland, New Zealand, was the first commitment in the 2016 class. Wynyard committed to Kentucky on January 25. He was a consensus four star prospect, and enrolled in December 2015 to join the team in the spring.

Roster

Roster is subject to change as/if players transfer or leave the program for other reasons.

Depth chart

Schedule

November The season officially began on November 13 with a 78–65 victory over Albany in the first game of the HoopHall Invitational at Rupp Arena. The following night Kentucky defeated NJIT 87–57 behind 26 points from Labissiere. Three nights later the team traveled to Chicago for the Champions Classic to play No. 5 Duke. The Cats defeated the Blue Devils 74–63 which was Kentucky's first victory over Duke since the 1998 NCAA tournament Kentucky returned home on November 20 to defeat Wright State 78–63. Ulis led the team with 21 points and 5 assists. Kentucky entered its game against Boston U. on November 24 ranked number one in the country for the first time this season. The Cats defeated the Terriers 82–62. The night after Thanksgiving, on November 27, Kentucky traveled to Miami to play South Florida in the Hoops Hall Invitational. Kentucky defeated the Bulls 84–63 despite losing Ulis in the first half to a hyper-extended elbow. On November 30 Kentucky returned home to defeat Illinois State 75–63 behind 16 points from Murray.

December On December 3 Kentucky traveled to Los Angeles to play UCLA for their first meeting ever in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA defeated Kentucky 87–77 which was Kentucky's first regular season loss since March 8, 2014 at Florida. Kentucky returned home on December 9 to defeat Eastern Kentucky 88–67 behind 22 points and 13 rebounds from Poythress. On December 12 Kentucky hosted Arizona State and defeated the Sun Devils 72–58 behind 14 points and 7 rebounds from Lee. On December 19 Kentucky traveled to Brooklyn to play in the annual CBS Sports Classic against Ohio State. Despite 33 points from Murray, the Buckeyes defeated UK 67–74. On December 26 Kentucky returned home to play in the annual Battle for the Bluegrass against Louisville. For the second consecutive year Ulis was named MVP of the game after a 21 points, 8 assist performance to lead Kentucky to a 75–73 victory. The win marked the seventh victory out of the last eight.

January