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Kentucky signee Trent Noah of Harlan County continues to be praised for his prolific scoring and shooting but Kyle Jones, his high school coach, says his star player is more than just a shooter.
“A lot of people talk about his shooting ability and rightfully so,” said Jones. “But he is an exceptional passer. His court vision is next to none. He always makes the right play in pressure situations,
“He’s an unselfish player and a very underrated rebounder. I also think he is an underrated defender. He does things he needs to do and would guard the other team’s best player and do a great job. He would take a charge in a big moment or get on the floor to get a loose ball.”
Noah averaged 29.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game last season when he shot 56 percent overall from the field, 43 percent from 3 (he made 102 3’s) and 89 percent at the foul line
“Going into his junior year he started taking his diet seriously and getting his body in shape to play college basketball,” Jones said. “Now he has a college ready body. I am anxious to see how having trainers like they have at UK will do for him. He could be scary with his size and ability once they work with him.”
15 Responses
If everyone buys into Pope’s system, it’s hard to see much PT for the freshmen. If some of these seniors and super seniors show that they are more focused on the NBA than on representing Kentucky, then the freshmen will get their chance and most likely save the day. I think everyone will be surprised at how this team excels this season, but I am more excited about what lies ahead in year 2. Garrison, Almonor, Oweh, Collins, Perry, and Noah should all be there for year 2. That would be a decent team in itself. Add Moreno, possibly Johnson, and a couple of transfers and things will only get better. Year 3 could be the year for No. 9 to come home to Lexington.
Alomor is gone after this year. He played the year after the covid year but I agree we have a great nucleus. Perry and Noah will be much improved. The more I’ve dived into it maybe Noah gets more playing time than Perry and that is only because he has a big body for 6’6" he could split minutes with Alomor at the 4 or we could play no positions with Williams and Garrison manning the 5. I’m starting to think that will be the ticket. Carr is 6’9" on some sites and 6’10" on other sites. For some reason I think Carr leads the team in scoring. He reminds me of a poor mans Larry bird even his shot is similar. He just finds a way to score. Noah Perry and Chandler will be the future of Kentucky. I think the biggest surprise on this team is Chandler. He has a beautiful stroke and he plays above the rim and that was at 6’4" now he’s 6’6" with a longer wingspan. He was kissing the rim in high school imagine what he’s going to do with the strength and conditioning program that Pope has. If you remember in the 90s kids would come as sticks and Pitino after a year or 2 would have them chiseled. Pope does the same thing if you look at BYUs players they were all cut up. That’s what killed Cals teams because they left the same way they came in. Its like they never got bigger and they never really improved. Oscar was better his first year. His second year he was still incredible but he didn’t improve he actually got worse. Williams and Garrison are already big guys they will lose body fat and gain muscle especially Williams. Kriisa is going to be very hard to handle with actual weapons at his arsenal. He started 2 years at Arizona when they were the best team in the West. He didn’t have any help at west Virginia last year. They were terrible. I’m also excited about Oweh I think he’s going to be a steam roller. He looks like a SEC guy and he’s gotten noticeably better his first 2 years. In year 3 he will take a big jump. I watched a bunch of San Diego State games. I bet on them alot. One thing I will say is nobody on that team could shoot the ball and that hurt Butlers stats because he’s a facilitator a pass first point guard. Then he destroys the oppositions point guard because he doesn’t give them a inch. The competition in the sec will be better than what he’s used to playing against but he will still be a lock down defender. I think Pope mixes the lineup with defense and offense. You don’t out your best 5 offense players on the court you have to mix it up. Which means whatever group gels the most will play but Popes teams usually go 9-10 deep because they push it down the court every play. The one thing I don’t understand is why didn’t Robinson start if he was the best player on the team. It doesn’t make sense just like Reed and Dillingham not starting. Some players watch the flow of the game then come in and change the flow and I think that’s what he was good at like Dillingham. Reed should have started at PG there was no excuse for it. Think about this if Robinson didn’t start for BYU and Kentucky’s roster is way better than BYU last year will Robinson start this year for Kentucky. I think he will but who really knows. I’ve changed my starters in my head. I think you start Butler-Oweh-Robinson-Carr-Garrison. You get great defense and Offense. The only reason I have Oweh starting over Brea is because I think he comes in and shoots some 3s and comes out Oweh averaged more points in a harder conference and has way better defense. Kriisa replaces butler and that’s instant offense, Brea replaces Oweh and that’s instant offense. Chandler replaces Robinson their game is very similar but Chandler is a better player for his age and I think a better slasher/athlete or maybe Noah depending on foul trouble. You know the SEC loves to blow the whistle more than any other conference.Alomor backs up Carr which Alomor will hit a different gear than Carr he’s more fast and he’s a fighter he will do whatever to help the team, and Williams backs up Garrison once the other team gets tired Williams will have his way with a tired SEC center, Williams is a great passer a average rebounder and a good rim protector he’s bad at creating shots with his back to the basket but he’s also not a mid range jump shooter. Garrison is more athletic and can keep up a little.more than Williams but they complement each other perfectly and I think they play about the same amount of minutes. This is where I say Perry or possibly Noah redshirt and next year they get their playing time. Noah has a college ready body and Perry isn’t a stick himself but they will improve so much this year that they might just start in year 2. But what do I know I’m just a common man with a common job lol.
Assuming they don’t get poached. There are teams EVERYWHERE poaching players. Calipari, Kansas, Memphis, DUKE, UNC, Zags will all be gunning for players with MONEY! OUT IN THE OPEN, LEGALLY. Pope will be looking to replace them with BETTER guys…. New world guys…
Perry, Noah & Chandler can shoot a very high % from 3.
Only Brea & 1 other player can do that.
All the experience, 5th year, 10th year, whatever, cannot change the simple facts in the stats.
I have not heard a peep from Pope saying the FR will be asked to redshirt or accept playing 3 to 5 minutes after sitting at the far end of the bench.
It is ridiculous to say who will start, who won’t play & should redshirt.
I hope Pope fills the 13th slot with a KY HS player with fundamentals solid as a rock & a big heart for UK but needs to add strength to his frame & will be thrilled to wait until he can develop into a contributor in a couple of years. However, Perry & Pope are not the type players who anticipate just watching others play in 2024.
Pope & his select set of assistants will do just fine without needing any help.
You keep saying they are going to play but realistically where and who will they play over? Everyone on this team can shoot the ball you said Brea Perry and Noah are the only 3 point shooters what are you smoking? Kriisa shot 44% in college basketball not high school. Robinson shoots from 25 feet out at over 42% a clip in college basketball. Chandler can not only shoot but he also plays above the rim. Owen is a 38% 3 point shooter in the big 12 the best basketball confrence. The kids your talking about are great kids don’t get me wrong but Billy Joe from lee county won’t be guarding them. What is Noah or Perry going to do when Thiero or Josh Hubbard or Sears is guarding them potential NBA players. Their is a giant difference between playing in the SEC and playing against Kentucky county schools. Kentucky rarely puts out great talent. 2025 is an exception. The 2025 Kentucky class is night and day better than the 2024. Yes he’s the all time leading scorer in Kentucky but he was averaging 20 ppg in the 8th grade what type of competition was he playing in and why is he not even in the top 50 if he’s so great I get it he’s a Kentucky kid but even Reed was in the top 40. He’s not even in the Top 75 in a weaker class and Noah isn’t even in the top 100 in a weaker class. Where do you see them coming in as freshman shooting 3s against the likes of Arkansas and Tennessee and Alabama. Your bias towards Kentucky kids I love them too but usually most of them flop when they play for Kentucky because the competition sucks. Look at Dontae Allen he averaged 42 points per game in High school and he rides the bench at western Kentucky. Everyone was pissed at Cal for not playing him and he sucked and he averaged way more than these kids. If they played in Chicago or new York or Florida they wouldn’t be 3* players. Reed Sheppard is the lone exception. Name another Kentucky kid that lit it up at Kentucky recently. Darius Miller? When he had good players around him his production plummeted. The 2025 class has 3-4 players that could play for Kentucky. Johnson being the only one who would get legitimate playing time. Your wishing on a falling star buddy. You said it don’t matter if they are 5th year seniors. Then why did Kentucky suck with the Best freshman? Freshman that NBA teams want. Your comments dont hold water.
Lol what about Robinson ? What about Kriisa? What about Carr? What about Oweh? Experience don’t matter lmao. I wonder what they would do against jimmy Johnson from Muhlenberg county lmao. You don’t know basketball buddy.
Give it a rest tj. Drop your haughty & nasty comments. Your opinion is just your opinion. The stats in the fall will be analyzed by the Professor whose posts are facts and figures. After 5 to 7 games and a check again at the end of December will reveal the facts.
BYU had an ANE OF 2.60 last season, their first in the Big 12. Coach Pope got a better performance out of average players than the fraud did in his last 5 to 9 years.
I’ll wait until the good ole KY born & raised livers of UK BB prove their value as Sheppard did with his +/- exceeding every other player game after game.
You can STOP making nasty remarks – grow up!!! I complimented your analysis about the FB players, but now realize I may have erred.
Barry Pritchett posts a lot of ideas which I disagree with, but I have a lot of respect for his overall desire for UK to succeed and his knowledge of BB. We have never clashed just because we may see some things differently. Same with the vast majority of VV posters.
I quit for posting comments anywhere for about 4 years because of nasty childish words spewed by some against a lot of others and I simply was not interested in childish arguments about ideas, opinions, theories and not facts.
Let the games begin and then some facts will clarify who has it and who doesn’t.
My wife and I are over a century & a half old and we just stop reading anything someone writes when they start throwing in nasty junk.
All I do is post my opinions and that’s what they are…nothing more. That is what this site is meant for. Many don’t see things the way I do and that’s ok…I don’t have all of the answers and have been wrong about things at times. We can disagree with each other…that is healthy. When we personally attack those we disagree with, then we defeat the purpose of this site. I was a big Calipari fan in the beginning, even though I did not like some of the things he did. Calipari lost my support when he allowed Andrew Harrison to single handedly lose the game with Wisconsin with the 39 – 0 team up to that time. If Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker had played the last 5 minutes of that game, most likely, we would have won, gone on to beat Duke in the title game and been 41 – 0 bringing No. 9 back home to Lexington. Calipari said he didn’t want to take Andrew’s heart and henceforth threw his players first agenda in the face of BBN every time he could. This wasn’t the first time that Calipari pissed away a national title. The John Wall team should have won a title, but let a third string point guard from West Virginia play circles around us. Calipari could not push the right buttons to get his OAD players to perform when it mattered most. After the Wisconsin loss, I attacked Calipari viscously and some of his supporters attacked me just as viscously. That is what happens when someone can’t defend a position with facts. Calipari was a decent coach when he first came to Kentucky, but he lost his focus in the recruiting of OAD prima donnas, and both he and BBN paid for it dearly. Calipari now has a chance to get back to the coach he was at UMass and Memphis…less the alleged cheating. He knows now that he F’ed up big time here at Kentucky but, to his credit, he never got laid at Joe Bolognas. He was a good man; he just got off track as a coach. He has already stated that he will continue to be a players first coach, but admits he needs to adjust his recruiting. Will he have success at Arkansas? I think he will still have a double digit loss record there more years than not and don’t see him winning any titles there. In 5 years he will retire or get fired without winning another national title. He should have played Ulis the last 5 minutes of the Wisconsin game, finished that season undefeated, brought No. 9 back to Lexington, and then retired. He didn’t and things fell apart from there.
I am an equally big fan of Mark Pope. He has the X and O skills that eluded Calipari at key times. He has put together a fantastic staff and recruited a new team in record time. He will always put Kentucky first and his team will play smart, hard, and be tough. I see him bringing No. 9 to Lexington sooner than later. if he ever were to sell out Kentucky just to appease and coddle players, I will be down on his azz bigtime…but I don’t see that happening. Mark is a Kentucky guy, a Kentucky champion, and he will lead our program back to the prominent level befitting of a blue blood program. I think Mark has the potential to be the only multi national title winning coach since Rupp. Go CATS!!!
Signing off for a few months.
Thanks to the many awesome fans who post their great comments about UK BB & how awesome it is to have KY HS boys growing into men while wearing UK on their jersey and knowing it is an awesome privilege! UK has already begun its rise from the ashes left by the fraud.
Just want you share with you all how proud I am of the roster that Coach Pope has put together. I have been a fan of UK BASKETBALL since the late ‘60s. My 1st real disappointment was Issel backing over Jacksonville’s guard for his fifth foul.1st big game win was 78 champs winning over Duke. Guys I just want to say this years team is not to be fighting over but to enjoy and to give them all the support you can muster. GO BIG BLUE
Well said TBone. Remember that Issel charge very well
I’ve been a big time Cats fan since the days Cotton Nash ran the hardwood for the Baron and I too remember the Issel play very well. He did not back into the guy, but was running down the court from defense to the offensive end and the guard just jumped over in front on him at the last second! Dan’s momentum carried him into the player for the charge call, which big Dan really could not have avoided the way it went down. Although sickening, it was not really the turning point in that game! UK did not play well that game and were trailing most of the way and had just begun to get rolling when that play went down. I think they could have won had Issel remained in the game, but it was not a sure thing.
It was a heartbreaking loss Mike
This guy can handle the rock. Period. Can’t wait to see it! Especially against Arkansas.
This whole game has gone to hell. Players for sale to the highest bidder. I checked out on the pro game years ago, now greed has destroyed the college game. The love of money is, after all, is the root of all evil. Greedy, narcissistic players have caught up with the Caliphonies now.