Out of high school, Padgett was a very lightly regarded prospect,  and his choosing of Kentucky over Louisville (being a Louisville  native) was perhaps the only thing many observers really knew  about him. After a non-descript freshman year with limited playing  time, Padgett struggled in the classroom and was academically  ineligible to play the following year (UK's title team in '96), and  spent the year working, away from school. However, he was  welcomed back to the team in the fall of '97, and after he became  eligible, immediately garnered solid playing time. His play was big  in helping UK reach the finals once again in '97. As a junior,  Padgett cemented himself in the starting lineup at power forward,  and was a key cog of Kentucky's '98 title team. It was his clutch  3 in the regional finals versus Duke that capped Kentucky's  brilliant comeback in that game. There were a lot of expectations  out of Padgett for his senior season, almost so much that it would  have been impossible for him to live up to. But while he eventually  did not live up to the lofty expectations, Padgett did have a solid  senior campaign, where he became a team leader and was the  team's go-to guy in the clutch. Padgett finished his career in UK's  hallowed 1000 point club.

 Padgett's big strength is his versatility. His outside shooting is  tremendous for someone his size, and even though he struggled a  bit at the beginning of 1998-99 with the 3, he was able to recoup  late in the year. Padgett also has a decent inside game with a few  post moves. He is solid on the defensive boards, and plays good  team defense. One of the main questions surrounding Padgett is  his overall speed and quickness. He projects to be a small  forward in the pros, and observers wonder if he'll be able to keep  up with the Scottie Pippens and Grant Hills at the SF spot. While  he has decent size, he may not be big enough to play PF on a  full-time basis. He has a little "tweener" in him defensively, but  offensively, he should be able to do fine at either position,  especially with his strength at outside shooting.  Padgett silenced some doubters with his excellent play at the Nike  Desert Classic, the second of the three pre-draft camps. He not  only shot the ball well, but surprised some observers with his  lateral quickness. He made the all-tournament team and will likely  play again in the Chicago camp.

Padgett can play either forward, and I see him playing mostly power forward in the NBA with some occasional minutes at small forward. He is a very good shooter and an excellent passer offensively, and he handles the ball well for someone his size. His game offensively doesn't fit that of a traditional small or power forward; as good a shooter as he is, he is not good at taking the ball to the basket, and he does not have much of a post game. Defensively, he is a good rebounder.

Padgett showed this past season that he can play against the best and when there is much on the line. He played great basketball in the NCAA Tournament, hitting many clutch baskets and making the plays one expects a senior leader to make. He also shined at the postseason camps. He has a very good grasp of the mental aspects of the game, which will allow him to play somewhere in the NBA.