John Calipari’s celebration was muted.

The Kentucky men’s basketball team’s coach didn’t celebrate much following the Wildcats’ 89-72 victory over Canada in Sunday’s Globl Jam tournament championship game in Toronto. As the buzzer sounded, Calipari slapped the back of walk-on forward Brennan Canada before walking towards midcourt and shaking hands with Canada’s coaches and players.

And who could blame Calipari for his lack of exuberance? After all, this was an exhibition event featuring Under-23 teams from various countries. Most of the players were not nearly as talented as those on Kentucky’s roster.

Still, the young Wildcats went undefeated in the four-game tournament and gained some valuable experience playing together and preparing for the 2023-24 season, one that college basketball fans will watch closely to see if Kentucky can bounce back from a subpar stretch.

In March, Kentucky lost to No. 12 seed Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA tournament, another disappointing ending to its season. The Wildcats didn’t make the NCAA tournament in 2021 and lost to No. 15 seed St. Peter’s in the first round in 2022. They haven’t advanced to the Final Four since 2015 despite being ranked in the Associated Press top five at some point in seven of the past eight seasons.

Only one of Kentucky’s top nine scorers from last season is returning: Antonio Reeves, a 6-foot-4 guard who averaged 14.4 points per game, which was second on the team. And there was no guarantee that Reeves would be back, as he declared for the NBA draft before pulling out in late May.

Reeeves then explored his transfer options and reportedly enrolled at Illinois State, the school he attended for three seasons before heading to Kentucky last year. But during the middle of last month, Reeves came back to Kentucky.

During the Globl Jam, Reeves averaged a team-high 23 points in 28.3 minutes per game and shot 57.9% from the floor, including 56.3% (18 of 32) on 3-pointers. After Sunday’s victory, Calipari alluded to the fact that Reeves may have been hesitant to return to school because Kentucky has signed an incoming recruiting class that 247Sports ranked as first in the country.

“He was worried about the wrong stuff,” Calipari told reporters. “When you have five of the freshmen that we have and you’re finding out they're really good, it’s, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen to me?’ What? You’re the vet. What do you mean what’s happening to you? He did the right stuff. I’m proud of him. He’s playing good.”

Kentucky also had strong showings from two of its top freshmen: Justin Edwards, a 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 14.5 points in 32.5 minutes per game, and D.J. Wagner, a 6-foot-3 guard who averaged 14 points in 30.3 minutes per game.

Edwards was third and Wagner sixth in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the high school Class of 2023. Kentucky also signed Aaron Bradshaw, a 7-foot forward and teammate of Wagner’s at Camden (N.J.) High School who was fourth in the 247 rankings.

Bradshaw recently underwent surgery on his foot and missed the Globl Jam event. It is unclear how long Bradshaw will be out, but Calipari told reporters late last month that he expects Bradshaw to be ready for the season opener.

Ugonna Onyenso, a 6-foot-11 sophomore forward, also did not play in the Globl Jam after sustaining an ankle injury last week during a scrimmage. Calipari said Onyenso would be “out a while” but didn’t provide any specifics about when he’ll return.

Besides Reeves and Onyenso, only one other Kentucky scholarship player is back from last year’s team: Adou Thiero, a 6-foot-6 sophomore guard. This year’s roster also includes freshman guards Robert Dillingham, Reed Sheppard and Jordan Burks, who were No. 16, No. 42 and No. 175, respectively, in the 247Sports Composite.

The Wildcats also have Tre Mitchell, a 6-foot-9 forward who transferred from West Virginia last month after the school fired coach Bob Huggins. Mitchell, who played for UMass, Texas and West Virginia the past three seasons, averaged 14.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game at the Globl Jam.

Of course, Kentucky didn’t face the best competition at the event. Canada’s team, for instance, featured primarily players from mid-major programs like Northwestern State, Iona and Maine. But Calipari said it was worthwhile to have his young team practice for 10 days, play in four games and just hang out together, including a visit on Friday to rapper Drake’s mansion in Toronto.

Kentucky opens its season on Nov. 14 in the Champions Classic against Kansas, which will be considered one of the preseason national title favorites. That game is still 17 weeks away, so there’s plenty of time to prepare and develop before then, but Calipari seems happy with the way his team has progressed.

After Sunday’s game, Calipari said he spoke with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a former Kentucky player who’s now an All-Star with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“(Gilgeous-Alexander) just said to me, ‘I loved watching them play because they pass to each other, they play off of one another,’” Calipari said. “Listen to this, they can dribble, pass and shoot. It’s not a track meet. It’s not a wrestling match. It is basketball. You may look at them and say they’re small, they’re skinny, they’re this. But they can all dribble, pass and shoot.”