John Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats were eliminated from the first round of the NIT less than one year after winning the National Championship.

Calipari said the program "almost got hijacked," but that won't happen again.

Calipari said Kentucky's lack of depth forced him to accept things he wouldn't normally do.

"There were things that we did this year we will not do," Calipari said. "We will be a tough ball team next year. We will be a tough, hard-nosed, fighting team next year. I promise you, we will be, because I can't sit through that. I can't take it."

Calipari is bringing in an incredibly deep freshman class, which could relegate many key returners to ancillary roles.

Larry Drew II has had a huge impact on UCLA this season, which has gone largely unnoticed due to the presence of talented freshmen like Shabazz Muhammad.

“If they win the conference,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said, “my vote for the conference player of the year is for Larry Drew, and I don’t really think it’s close. The impact that he has on the game to make his teammates better, the fact that he shoots 50 percent from three. I know this — in the two games we played UCLA, he was the difference.”