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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky's frontcourt is in the midst of a remodeling job, but there's at least one player returning with a chance to start next season, the Courier-Journal has confirmed.

Bam Adebayo and Isaac Humphries turned pro, five-star recruits P.J. Washington, Nick Richards and Jarred Vanderbilt signed with the Wildcats and coach John Calipari is still pursuing five-star big man Mohamed Bamba.

Do not forget about Sacha Killeya-Jones.

After playing in only 15 games as a freshman last season, the 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward has "no plans" to transfer, according to a source with knowledge of Killeya-Jones’ decision and who asked to remain unnamed because they were not authorized to speak publicly about it.

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That gives Calipari a former McDonald's All-American with practice experience and an understanding of expectations to potentially compete for a starting spot. The Wildcats lost eight players (potentially nine if Hamidou Diallo remains in the draft) from last season, and the 2017 recruiting class could include as many as nine players, counting potential graduate transfer Cameron Johnson.

Despite roster turnover, questions about the starting lineup and rotation and lack of opportunities in games last season, Killeya-Jones maintained he was positive about the future due to his perspective with a big-picture take on his collegiate career.

"I came here for a reason and it's been a great experience so far," he said in March. "I'm going to stick to the plan, obviously, and just keep working on what I'm going to work on and keep getting better."

Killeya-Jones averaged 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds in his first year but did not appear in a game after Jan. 21. Calipari opted to play Adebayo and Humphries exclusively at the 5-spot late in conference play and in the Southeastern Conference and NCAA tournaments. Killeya-Jones cited those two players as reasons for his improvement in practice.

"Learning experience has been crazy this year," he said. "Physically, going against those dudes was just a whole different step up from high school, obviously. And then being around and in his program and learning from Coach Cal and everything, my mental state has gone to a different level, too. I've learned a lot and grown a lot as a player since I've gotten here."

The lack of playing time became a topic of discussion for fans on social media, and given his one-time commitment to Virginia and previous offers from North Carolina, Kansas, Florida and others, it led to speculation about his future at Kentucky. Calipari was asked in February why Killeya-Jones was not used more often.

“Still working. He’s trying," Calipari said. "Guys are ahead of him right now, and that’s a hard deal. You’ve got to fight your way through practice to get ahead because you’re not going to get in the game before a guy that’s beating you in practice. It just doesn’t work that way.

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Entering his second season, Killeya-Jones could use the experience to gain an edge in the fight to start or play meaningful minutes. Calipari said he had meetings with Killeya-Jones in February and the plan has remained the same.

According to Calipari, Killeya-Jones said: "'I understood coming here that this was going to be hard, so I’ve got to work through it.'"