This season of Kentucky basketball is a venture into the unknown for Big Blue Nation. After changing coaches and hiring Mark Pope, the entire roster had to be rebuilt, mostly from the transfer portal.
The 2024-25 Wildcats are a Frankenstein’s monster of sorts, assembled from parts taken from elsewhere. The end result is anyone’s guess, but there is talent there. Pope brought in players that fit his offensive system, and who could play defense, shoot the basketball, or both.
Related: Jaxson Robinson named top breakout player
ESPN analyst Jeff Borzello believes in the talent. In their updated preseason college basketball top 25 rankings, the Kentucky comes in at number 23. Here is what he had to say:
Mark Pope’s first roster at Kentucky looks drastically different from most of his predecessor’s teams. Out are the five-star freshmen, in are a slew of prolific 3-point shooters to stretch defenses. Jaxson Robinson followed Pope from BYU, and he’s the best addition of the group, playing himself onto NBA draft boards despite coming off the bench for the Cougars last season. He’s joined by Koby Brea (Dayton), Otega Oweh (Oklahoma), Kerr Kriisa (West Virginia) and Andrew Carr (Wake Forest) as high-level shooters, while Lamont Butler (San Diego State) and Amari Williams (Drexel) bring defensive prowess.
Kentucky’s downfall is recent seasons has been its youth. This team is very experienced, and Pope might just be right doctor to put the parts all together. If he gets them into the NCAA Tournament, they could be a dangerous team.