What's ahead for John Calipari and Kentucky basketball after latest ...

PITTSBURGH — Kentucky's 2023-24 season reached its denouement Thursday night. UK, the No. 3 seed in the South Region, fell to 14-seed Oakland, 80-76, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at PPG Paints Arena.

Following UK's third straight opening-weekend exit in March Madness, John Calipari and the Wildcats have roster management questions as they begin turning their attention to the 2024-25 season.

Here's a look at the offseason ahead, and what next season's roster could look like:

Which Kentucky players could leave?

Two UK seniors, Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves, have exhausted their college eligibility and won't be back.

Reeves will leave a massive hole: His 20.2 points per game was the best single-season mark of Calipari's 15-year tenure. Mitchell, when healthy, was the team's best rebounder, a gifted passer and a consistent shooter from all areas of the floor.

Then there's the freshmen.

Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, Reed Sheppard and D.J. Wagner likely will declare for the NBA draft. Big men Aaron Bradshaw and Zvonimir Ivišić could do the same. And depending what he hears from Calipari and NBA talent evaluators, sophomore 7-footer Ugonna Onyenso might leave for the draft as well.

Which UK players could return for 2024-25 season?

Rising junior Adou Thiero solidified himself as a starter in 2023-24, and could play an even larger role — and provide a much-needed veteran presence — next season.

If Bradshaw and Onyenso decide to put the pros on hold for another year, they could return and show what they're capable of when healthy for a full season. (Foot injuries sidelined both for the entire preseason and the first month of the 2023-24 campaign.) Ivišić is a slightly different case; while he wasn't injured like Bradshaw and Onyenso — the other two members of the Wildcats' 7-foot trio — he sat out from the moment he arrived on campus in October until the NCAA finally cleared him to play Jan. 20. Ivišić might determine a full college season to demonstrate what he can do will boost his draft stock, of which he has to monitor closely. He's declared for the draft twice already before withdrawing his name. If Ivišić declares for the draft again, he will not be permitted to remove his name a third time.

Elsewhere, freshman Jordan Burks, a late addition to the Wildcats' top-ranked 2023 signing class, flashed signs of promise in limited playing time. Joey Hart, who, like Burks, joined the 2023 recruiting class late in the game, played in just seven contests and only attempted two shots. A year of college experience — despite it being more practice reps than minutes in live games — might help him carve out a more prominent role next season.

Kentucky basketball transfer portal watch

Possible departures: If Burks and Hart don't see paths to more playing time next season — and don't want to settle for spot minutes off the bench — the pair could enter their names into the transfer portal.

Coming in: Dillingham, Reeves and Sheppard were three of the most lethal 3-point shooters in program history. So the Wildcats will desperately need to land a sharpshooter (preferably, more than one) to fill out the 2024-25 roster. Regardless of what the three 7-footers do, adding a veteran front-court player to the mix (in the vein of Mitchell, who joined UK as a fifth-year senior) would be a shrewd move.

2024 Kentucky basketball recruiting class

No surprise here: The Wildcats will bring in one of the country's most ballyhooed recruiting classes next season. The 2024 class is ranked No. 2 nationally, per 247Sports' Composite team rankings. And they might not be done: Five-star small forward Liam McNeeley, who recently decommitted from Indiana, already has heard from Kentucky's coaching staff. Even if McNeeley goes elsewhere, UK's class is flush with talent. The haul features four five-star prospects (Boogie Fland, Karter Knox, Jayden Quaintance and Billy Richmond) and a pair of four stars (big man Somto Cyril and in-state superstar Travis Perry, the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky high school history).

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.