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Hitting the transfer portal was the only roster option that Kentucky coach Mark Pope had when he took over the UK basketball program in April and did not have a single scholarship player on the roster.
Pope’s first team is not only loaded with transfers but loaded with very veteran transfers to make Kentucky one of the nation’s most experienced teams this year.
But what will the roster look like in the future?
Pope has recently signed three top 40 recruits and is heavily pursuing one more in the 2025 recruiting class.
“I don’t know if there’s a magical number,” Pope said when asked how many freshmen he might have on his next roster. “But if there is one, hopefully, we’ll hit it.”
Kentucky has seven players who are in their final year of eligibility — Jaxson Robinson, Koby Brea, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr, Amari Williams, Ansley Almonor and Kerr Kriisa.
Three freshman guards — Travis Perry, Trent Noah and Collin Chandler — are expected to return. Junior Otega Oweh was also expected back but he’s played so well his name is starting to show up on some NBA mock drafts. Sophomore Brandon Garrison should return.
“It’s a balance. There’s no science behind it,” Pope said about roster management. “I do think that this freshman class is really important, especially these three guys are going to be really important and pieces we may add in the future are really important to this freshman class.
“I think the portal is really, really important and I think the most important thing of all is the guys in the program have a chance to come back next year. “Those are three spaces that you want to pay attention to all three of them because they all are massively important to continuity in a program.”
