LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The pending arrival of eight heralded newcomers has allowed Kentucky coach John Calipari to quickly move on after losing out on top recruit Andrew Wiggins. Calipari is confident his large recruiting class will mesh and have the Wildcats back in national championship contention. Calipari acknowledges the challenge of melding the skills of another talented group of freshmen, one featuring six McDonalds All-Americans. Kentuckys latest recruiting class is considered the best in school history, ratcheting expectations of a ninth national championship next season. Wiggins was considered the final piece for a Wildcats title run, but the nations top-rated player committed to Kansas Tuesday. Still, Caliparis believes his class will be successful because junior Kyle Wiltjer and sophomores Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress return to provide experience and leadership for the rookies. His only caveat: expecting too much from his 13-man roster, especially after Kentucky (21-12) missed last seasons NCAA tournament with a highly touted foursome. "Its been laid out for them," Calipari said Wednesday of the expectations. "Now, the question is, will we all have the patience? Will I have the patience? "Theres no choice. It may be ugly early and were playing good teams early. The point is by the end of the year, we have the talent, the size, the toughness, the skill set. ... How we bring this team together will be the challenge of this." Calipari eagerly embraces the mission because of the depth of talent he has attracted. Leading Kentuckys latest group of All-Americans are 6-foot-5 twin guards Andrew and Aaron Harrison; forwards Marcus Lee and Julius Randle; guard James Young; and centre Dakari Johnson. Joining them are in-state players Derek Willis, a 6-foot-9 post player, and guard Dominique Hawkins, the consensus choice as Kentuckys top prep player. Besides being among the nations best at their positions, the versatility of each one could help address several problem areas for the Wildcats. What has Calipari most encouraged is the dominant "Alpha male" characteristics displayed by players, such as the 6-10 Randle -- traits that were missing from last years Kentucky squad that also lacked a returning starter from the previous years championship team. "This team will have maybe two" such players, Calipari said, "but thats OK. What happens is when you have multiple (Alpha males), which we had on my team two years ago, different guys can lead at different points in the year. When you dont have that Alpha male at all, you have to do things to try to lead yourself as a coach, and your team can never have the kind of success you want." Last season was definitely a cautionary tale about expecting too much from freshmen. Big men Nerlens Noel and Cauley-Stein, guard Archie Goodwin and Poythress showed potential and even made the Southeastern Conferences All-Freshmen team. But as a group they didnt come close to meeting the standard set by Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in leading Kentucky to the title two years ago. Besides being left out of the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats lost at Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT as the top seed. That defeat capped a 4-5 run without the 6-10 defensive specialist Noel, whose season-ending knee injury in February hurt Kentuckys tenuous tournament prospects. Noel has entered the NBA draft and could be the No. 1 overall pick next month. Goodwin is also in the draft pool. Fortunately for Kentucky, 7-footer Cauley-Stein and Poythress skipped the draft to return for more development. They are joined by Wiltjer, Jon Hood and Jarrod Polson. "The guys that came back, shouldve come back," Calipari said. Signing so many scholarship players also points to a lesson the coach said he learned from not having enough last season. The groups arrival has energized Kentuckys already-fervent fan base to the point of predicting an unbeaten season on social media. Calipari warned that any success will require hard work from players and especially the coaches. Calipari said the work starts Monday for him and his staff, who will try to identify each players skills and coaching needs by the time they arrive on June 1 for orientation. Summer visits from former Wildcats, particularly those playing in the NBA, should also help provide direction for the roster. The result is an encouraging outlook that Calipari said wouldve been there no matter what Wiggins decided. "I wish him well," the coach said of Wiggins. "Hes a great kid and hes going to be a terrific basketball player. It didnt change me any. I was confident in this team and the group we had before and after his decision." 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Newcastles major off-season recruit, former Manly and NSW Origin utility Jamie Buhrer, had no reservations about joining the back-to-back wooden spooners.While Buhrers disappointment at having to leave Brookvale after seven seasons and 128 top-grade games has been well documented, he is looking forward to a fresh challenge after signing a two-season deal with the Knights.Newcastle finished last in 2015 and then won only one game this year in what was statistically the worst season by any team of the NRL era.Buhrer said that was not a deterrent when he was deciding whether to accept Newcastles offer.Especially the way they finished the year, they were much more competitive in games, he said.After the meeting I had with (Knights coach Nathan Brown), it was a pretty frank discussion about where the club is at and where its going.I didnt so much look at last year as what is going to be, moving forward.Hes got a vision that were going to step up this coming year and continue to step up, hopefully culminating in that top eight and top four.The 26-year-old will be one of Newcastles more experienced players but said there had been no discussions about whether he would join former Manly teammate Trent Hodkinson as a co-captain.ddddddddddddYou dont walk into a leadership role, he said.Ive got to make sure Im somebody that the boys can look up to before anything like that can be bestowed upon me.Although his preferred position is backrow, Buhrer said he was willing to fill a variety of roles.Brownys touched on that - I wont be pigeon-holed into one position, he said.So obviously Im going to have to be sharp in any number of positions that he might put me in.He denied that he felt he had a point to prove, after being asked by Manly to explore other options despite having a year to run on his contract.I dont think Ill wrap my head around the whole point to prove thing just yet, he said.I might start thinking something like that in January, when Ive got my lungs and Im ready to go with the boys.At the moment, its all about putting the work now, which is important. 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