By Kyle Arensdorf

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It’s nearly a foregone conclusion as head coach John Calipari enters his sixth season at UK, but another highly touted freshman class has made its way to Lexington.

Power forwards Karl Towns Jr. and Trey Lyles, point guard Tyler Ulis and shooting guard Devin Booker make up the four-man class that ranked second in the nation, according to ESPN.

“All of them are pretty impressive to see,” sophomoreguard Dominique Hawkins said as he praised his teammates’ performance so far.

After the Big Blue Bahamas Tour, assessments were made about all but one of the four freshmen (Lyles sat out of the tournament as a result of a scope to his left knee).

Towns and Ulis took fans and teammates by surprise with how they handled the pressure of being “UK freshmen” and how quickly they grasped the offense.

“I didn’t know (Ulis) was going to be that good coming in,” junior forward Alex Poythress said. “He’s a great pass-first point guard, he does what you need him to do and he runs the offense (really well).”

“I didn’t know Devin could shoot (as well as he can),” Hawkins said of the shoot-first guard. “He was shooting lights-out when we were playing pickup.”

Towns averaged 11 points in the Bahamas (the most among freshmen and second only to Poythress) and was the only non-point guard to garner a double-digit assist total.

“Karl is just a beast on the block,” Hawkins said. “If he gets it there, you aren’t going to stop him.”

He gained special praise from a fellow big man, sophomore forward Derek Willis, who pondered his potentially promising future.

“Karl is going to be good … It’s just crazy,” Willis said. “He goes at you when he plays. He’s a really competitive and high-energy guy.”

For the first time in Calipari’s tenure, a second-year point guard will, in all likelihood, be the starter.

This means Ulis will be the first point guard since Eric Bledsoe not to begin his UK career as the starting point guard.

Despite taking a back seat to sophomore point guard Andrew Harrison, he was thrust into the spotlight in the Bahamas.

Ulis had 24 assists in the six-game span and eight steals, tied for most on the team. He also had the highest 3-point percentage on the team at 60 percent.

Although he hasn’t been on the floor with him, Lyles knows what to look for when he’s on the court with Ulis.

“Just look up,” he said. “Because he’s probably going to throw the ball up to you.”