 On August 9, reserve guard E. J. Floréal announced that he would leave the UK basketball program to compete full-time for the school in track.Floréal, who had one year of remaining eligibility in basketball but would have two years in track, was a local and regional track champion in high school, and his father was UK's head track coach at the time.The Southeastern Conference preseason media poll was released at the SEC Media Days in October, it predicted that Kentucky would win the championship.