The Calipari era is now over. Can Mark Pope bring Kentucky basketball back to glory?
The tradition continues! CBB Review is again ranking the top 100 teams heading into the new college basketball season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Kentucky basketball.
The college basketball world was turned on its head when John Calipari announced he was leaving Kentucky and taking the Arkansas job. This comes after multiple years of disappointing tournament finishes, but Kentucky lost one of the best recruiters and one of the biggest faces in the sport. After a lengthy coaching search, they settled on Mark Pope, the former BYU coach and Kentucky alumni.
Pope was left with a lot of work to do, losing every player from last year’s team. He went hard into the portal, and brought in a team he feels is capable of competing for a title. This starts with a group of former Big 12 players Jaxson Robinson, Kerr Kriisa, Brandon Garrison, and Otega Oweh. Each brings a different skill set, and loads of starting experience. They also brought in Lamont Butler from San Diego State, a true winner, and Koby Brea, the best three-point shooter in the country.
You can’t forget about Andrew Carr, who might be the best player on the team. Then there’s Armani Williams, who put up great numbers at Drexel and has the frame and skill set that should translate to the next level. The big question will be chemistry. A team with a completely new roster and coach could struggle, especially early on. Mark Pope showed last year how good of a coach he is, and Kentucky fans will be happy with this addition to the program.
The expectations will be high, and it is up to the players and coaching staff to break the streak and make a tournament run that we’ve seen so many teams do in the past for this historic program.
Click here to learn more about our preseason top 100 teams heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Head coach: Mark Pope (1st season at Kentucky, 10th season overall)
2023-24 record: 23-10 (13-5)
2024 postseason finish: Lost to Oakland (80-76) in first round of NCAA Tournament
Notable departures:
- Antonio Reeves (20.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.6 APG)
- Rob Dillingham (15.2 PPG, 3.9 APG, 2.9 RPG)
- Reed Sheppard (12.1 PPG, 4.5 APG, 4.1 RPG)
- Tre Mitchell (10.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.6 APG)
- DJ Wagner (9.9 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 3.3 APG)
- Justin Edwards (8.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 0.9 APG)
- Adou Thiero (7.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.1 APG)
- Zvonomir Ivisic (5.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 0.3 APG)
- Aaron Bradshaw (4.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 0.3 APG)
- Ugonna Onyenso (3.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.2 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Duke (Nov. 12)
- at Clemson (Dec. 3)
- vs. Gonzaga (Dec. 7)
- vs. Louisville (Dec. 14)
- vs. Ohio State (Dec. 21)
Projected Rotation
PG: Lamont Butler (6-2, 208, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 9.3 PPG, 3.0 APG, 2.6 RPG, 1.5 SPG (San Diego State)
SG: Koby Brea (6-7, 215, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 11.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 51.2 FG%, 49.8 3P%, 87.5 FT% (Dayton)
SF: Otega Oweh (6-4, 215, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 11.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.0 APG, 1.5 SPG, 49.3 FG%, 37.7 3P% (Oklahoma)
PF: Andrew Carr (6-11, 235, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 13.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.5 BPG, 52.6 FG%, 37.1 3P% (Wake Forest)
C: Amari Williams (7-0, 262, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 12.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.8 BPG, 51.7 FG%, 33.3 3P% (Drexel)
6: Jaxson Robinson (6-6, 192, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 14.2 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 35.4 3P%, 90.8 FT% (BYU)
7: Kerr Kriisa (6-3, 185, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 11.0 PPG, 4.7 APG, 2.5 RPG, 42.4 3P% (West Virginia)
8: Brandon Garrison (6-10, 250, So.)
2023-24 stats: 7.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.5 BPG, 57.2 FG% (Oklahoma State)
9: Collin Chandler (6-5, 202, Fr.)
247Sports Composite #33 ranked recruit (2022)
10: Ansley Almonor (6-7, 244, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 16.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.7 APG, 39.4 3P% (FDU)
Kentucky Basketball Team MVP: Andrew Carr
Carr was inconsistent last year, but nothing showcases what he can bring to this Kentucky basketball team more than his performance in the last game of the season. Against Georgia, he scored 31 points on 11-19 shooting and also grabbed 11 rebounds. At 6’11, he provides a size mismatch, and his ability to stretch the floor makes it so difficult on the defender. Defensively, he’s gotten better and better, bringing his average to 1.5 blocks a game.
With Carr at power forward and Williams at center, it’ll be very hard for teams to match up with Kentucky. The bigger defender will defer to Williams, which will really allow Carr to dominate and put up numbers that can put him in consideration for SEC Player of the Year.
Kentucky Basketball make-or-break player: Otega Oweh
After a hot start to his sophomore season, Oweh really limped to the end. He only scored in double figures in 2 of the last 12 games of the season, and he just didn’t look that confident on the floor. Hopefully, Mark Pope can reawaken what we saw early on, and Oweh can be a high-level player for this team.
He’s a great defender and had seven steals in a game last year. Even when he was down offensively, the defense was still good, so if he can bring that, then that puts Kentucky in a much more comfortable position. If Oweh can not return to form, Jaxson Robinson will most likely take over, and that just narrows the bench and lowers Kentucky’s ceiling.
Key analytic: 3PA/game
Last year as the BYU coach, Mark Pope’s team shot the most threes per game in the country, with 32 attempts per game. That’s just under 8 more threes than Kentucky took a game last year, so fans might expect a different game. They brought in Koby Brea for this exact reason. Brea shot nearly 50% on high volume, and he’ll fit perfectly in this offense. This new Kentucky team will shoot threes at any opportunity, and hopefully, for them, they’ll go in more often than not.
Kentucky Basketball 2024-25 projections
Projected conference finish: 8th in the SEC
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Elite 8 Exit