Twitter Photo
Ansley Almonor set a Fairleigh Dickinson single-season record with 93 made 3-pointers as a junior last season and averaged 16.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He has transferred to Kentucky to play for coach Mark Pope and has one season of eligibility remaining.
The 6-7 Almonor has already scored over 1,000 points and started 31 of 32 games last season when he shot almost 40 percent from 3-point range. He helped Fairleigh Dickinson upset No. 1 seed Purdue in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
He recently joined Michael Spencer for his Loyal BBN Fans Show on YouTube. I first met Spencer when he listened to WLAP Sunday Morning Sports Talk while he was working in Kuwait. He’s now in the Philippines but has an entertaining show and managed to get the new UK player on his show.
“I was shocked when he responded to me and agreed to come on the show,” Spencer said.
Spencer (@bigmike201423 on X) had Almonor on his YouTube channel for about 25 minutes and discussed a variety of topics.
Almonor laughed and smiled a lot so he obviously enjoyed the show as much as Spencer. The show host asked Almoner about a poster he had on his wall when he was younger.
Almoner said one of his closest friend’s aunt and uncle told them in sixth grade that they put their goals on the wall so they could see them every day and visualize where they wanted to be to help them achieve their goals.
“I had a picture (logo) of two big schools. Kentucky is the highest level and I had them up there and kept it up my whole life. It worked and I am here now,” Almoner said.
He told Spencer that UK assistant coach Jason Hart initially reached out to him and the next day he talked to all the UK coaches.
“Coach Pope FaceTimed me. He does not like regular phone calls. He likes FaceTime so he can see your energy,” Almonor said. “We got to feel each other out. I felt it went great. We planned a Zoom meeting with my parents and then planned a (campus) visit and everything else is history.
“Everybody in my family was excited. They couldn’t believe it at first. It was like a dream come true.”
To see more of the interview to get to know Almonor go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUcH5OLI9zI.
3 Responses
Imagine that…Pope recruiting a kid who actually wanted to play here since he was 11. I think he can split time at the 3 and 4 spots. Brea withdrew from the draft, so we have a solid team as it stands. Who gets the last two scholarships? I still like Vinson or Burke for one of them. If Robinson pulled out of the draft, he most likely gets the other. It will be interesting to see how all of these kids fit together at Summer workouts.
Robinson makes 12, who will get the last scholarship?
Players who have wanted to play for UK since youth are my top priorities to get enough minutes in the 1st 7 or so games to prove their value to justify a lot of minutes &/or be a starter.
Almonar is definitely on it, joining Noah & Perry. I don’t recall details about the history of other players, but know that there is an additional quality in any player who has real desire to wear the UK jersey,
All the recruits have a lot of positive aspects so sharing minutes will give Coach Pope the opportunity to keep fresh legs on the floor & that can be the difference maker in the last 4 minutes of a close game.