By Kevin Erpenbeck

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Winning has become a tradition for UK Hoops. In fact, any season that doesn’t end in at least an NCAA Tournament appearance would come off as a failure, given the fact that the Cats have made it to the tournament the last five years.

With the culture that head coach Matthew Mitchell has developed since his arrival to UK in 2007, the 2014-15 season won’t be and shouldn’t be  viewed any differently.

This year’s UK Hoops team will be primarily centered around its guard-heavy roster, with five guards returning from last year’s team. Senior point guard Jennifer O’Neill looks to lead the way as she did much of the 2013-14 season.

But O’Neill isn’t the only talent UK will have in the backcourt. Senior guard Bria Goss also looks to be a main contributor to the Cats’ offense this year. Goss was third on the team in scoring during the 2013-14 season with 10.2 points per game. Having a record-setting 90.1 free throw percentage for the year certainly helps that offensive output. Goss likes to play an aggressive style of offense and relishes when that style forces opponents to send her to the free throw line often. She’ll look to repeat that game plan this season.

The Cats also have the ability to spread the offense out with the help of pass – first point guard Janee Thompson. The junior from Chicago led last year’s team in assists, averaging 3.1 per game and 107 total on the season. Now with two years of experience and significant starting time under her belt, Thompson will continue to be counted on to get her teammates the ball at every opportunity.

The 2014-15 season won’t come without its challenges, though. Last year’s starting forward DeNesha Stallworth and center Samarie Walker have both graduated, leaving a gigantic hole in the paint for the Cats. But Mitchell was quick in attempting to fill that hole by signing junior center Ivana Jakubcova to UK after she transferred from Murray State. The 6-foot-6-inch player from Slovakia gives UK a towering presence under the basket, a presence that UK has been missing.

Nothing is a given when it comes to a new season of basketball, even for a top-tier program like UK. With three nonconference games against teams that were ranked in the final 2013-14 polls (Baylor, Louisville, Duke), the Cats will have their work cut out for them. Add that to an already challenging SEC schedule (three opponents were in the final rankings poll), and the 2014-15 season should be quite the difficult one for UK.

But Mitchell has this team prepared for the challenges ahead, just like the teams before it. It’s a perennial winning program that’s built for NCAA Tournament success every year.

Anything short of that will be deemed a failure.