The ultimate lesson in servant leadership today washing feet and delivering shoes with @Samaritans_Feet. #BigBlueBahamas pic.twitter.com/nd3xkAuz0W — Kentucky Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) August 7, 2018

Kentucky basketball has a number of fans on edge as the Wildcats get ready to show off their 2018-19 team on their preseason trip to the Bahamas. But it seems safe to say that Kentucky made a number of new fans Tuesday morning, as the players washed the feet and gave new shoes to children through the Samaritan’s Feet program.

The level of excitement as Kentucky gets ready to play in the Bahamas is palpable. Most feel that this will be the Wildcats’ best team since at least 2015, with some going out on a further limb and declaring it Kentucky’s best squad since the 2012 team won the National Championship.

The reason for that optimism is simple: Kentucky brings back some experienced talent, added in the nation’s top graduate transfer and brings in yet another elite recruiting class.

PJ Washington would be a popular pick for SEC Player of the Year and potentially All-American if the Wildcats didn’t also go out and add Stanford grad transfer Reid Travis. Together, they give Kentucky something no other team in the country really has in a pair of 6-foot-8, physical forwards who can overpower opponents. Nick Richards is back after starting every game at center, while Quade Green started double-digit games as a point guard, giving Kentucky an experienced option to help a young, but talented, backcourt find its sea legs.

That’s because the Wildcats added two of the nation’s top point guards to compete with, and play alongside, Green. Green’s shooting — he’s Kentucky’s best returning perimeter shooter at 37.6 percent from three a year ago — should allow him to play next to either Ashton Hagans or Immanuel Quickley, both of whom have the size to defend two-guards on the other end. After reclassifying from 2019, Hagans ranked as the No. 1 point guard and No. 12 overall player in the 247Sports Composite, with Quickley coming in at No. 5 and No. 22, respectively. Wing Keldon Johnson should start immediately with his competitive fire and athleticism, and he’s the No. 3 small forward and No. 13 overall player in the 247Sports Composite, while fellow wing Tyler Herro is the No. 6 shooting guard and brings high-level scoring and shooting to the mix, likely off the bench.

The highest-rated player in the recruiting class is 6-foot-10 forward EJ Montgomery, the No. 2 power forward and No. 9 overall player in the 247Sports Composite. He should add another element to the Washington-Travis-Richards frontcourt, one that could be the nation’s best.