Jaland Lowe scored 20 or more points in 10 games last season with a high of 28 at Ohio State. (Pittsburgh Athletics Photo)
Kentucky had to find help at point guard in the transfer portal and did that when Pittsburgh sophomore Jaland Lowe announced Saturday he was coming to join coach Mark Pope’s team.
He averaged 16.8 points, 4,2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 35.4 minutes per game last year but was only a 26 percent shooter from 3-point range. However, he had over 20 points in 10 games, including a high of 28 in an overtime win at Ohio State.
The 6-3 Lowe also had a triple-double (11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) in a win over VMI in November. It was just the sixth triple-double in school history. He also had three double-doubles last season. In two games against Louisville, he had 24 points in the first game and 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the second game.
Lowe did shoot 88.6 percent from the foul line last season.
He made 19 starts as a true freshman in the 2023-24 season and averaged 9.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
ESPN analyst Jeff Borzelo called him “one of the best point guards in the portal.” He was a third-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference pick.
Rivals.com analyst David Sisk had some interesting numbers on Lowe:
— 98th percentile in playmaking & assists.
— 88th percentile in offensive impact.
— 44th percentile in defensive impact.
— 20th percentile in two-point shooting.
— 13th in turnovers.
Lowe, a lefty, is a former four-star recruit from Texas and if he can regain his freshman shooting form when he hit over 40 percent from 3 he will be a huge asset in Pope’s system. However, since he is a career 87 percent shooter at the foul line it’s easy to see why Pope believes he can be an accurate shooter with range.
Lowe joins Tulane’s Kam Williams as two transfers already committed to Kentucky. While some UK fans have worried about players Pope has not been able to secure out of the portal, remember that a year ago Kentucky had ZERO players on the roster.
Pope was not officially hired until April 11. Here’s the timeline for the transfers he added:
Amari Williams, 4/21; Lamont Butler, 4/26; Otega Oweh, 4/27; Andrew Carr, 4/29; Brandon Garrison, 4/30; Kerr Kriisa, 5/1; Koby Brea, 5/1; Ansley Almonor, 5/16; and Jaxson Robinson, 5/30.
Here are last year’s transfer rankings: Brandon Garrison (20), Otega Oweh (31), Jaxson Robinson (33), Lamont Butler (44), Andrew Carr (67), Amari Williams (84), Koby Brea (87), Kerr Kriisa (122) and Ansley Almonor (316).
Kam Williams is ranked 25th in the portal by 247Sports this year. That’s higher than any UK player last season except Garrison — who did not start for the Cats. So while rankings matter, Pope knows it matters more to him and his team’s success to have the right pieces to fit together.
13 Responses
Watched highlights of Jaland. Looks pretty good to me.
Same here Grant
Where’s the BEEF?
I will say this and I will say this now. Major upgrade at the point guard position from Butler. Yes Butler was great at defense but that’s about it. This guy is a better all around player. He is better at facilitating. He is a better scorer and he’s much better at the free throw line. He’s a plug and play starter from day 1 and I think he will be much better as a junior then as a sophomore. The one area that will be different is the minutes he will receive here at Kentucky he definitely won’t play almost 36 minutes per game. More like 28-30 mpg. But this probably made Perry sit at the end of the bench most of the time. I don’t see him playing over top 30 recruit Lewis who will be the backup point guard behind Lowe. With Lowe and Oweh we will have one of the best back courts in college basketball they will combine for nearly 40 ppg. Next year. Now were a stretch 4 away from being a final 4 contender next year. The future is bright. I don’t know if its next year or the following year but we will definitely be back in the final 4. I also believe Pope wins a championship in his first 4 years as the coach of Kentucky it could come this year but I think more along the lines of next year or the following year. We will see but this roster is in much better shape which it should be. Your only as good as your 9-13 on your roster because they make the starters better and this year those guys will be much better equipped to handle the situation. I also think all 3 freshman from this past years team shoot 40% or better from the 3 point line which should help the starters get a break and the score won’t reflect it as much.
If he can get to the rim should help open one of four three point artists.
Wonder if popes holding off on bigs to help lure Ament ? Dice roll.
Had not thought of that Paul
Ament is not a big to me. 6′ 9 and skinny. We need a couple 7′ 260lb. bruisers.
Question is will anyone else transfer or move on or are we set in stone with the 10 guys we have now?
Also if Garrison can improve on his 3 pointer even a little bit he will be much more prepared this year. He didn’t get alot of playing time with Williams in the fold but is that because Williams was great or because Garrison struggled? Most people hit their college ceiling or you know what kind of college player they will be during there junior season. He either improves a ton or we see more of the same?
I read that were the only D1 school that has 2 top 30 transfers so far and people are panicking Just give Pope time the man knows what he’s doing.
This does look like a pretty good get, but we let the beef get away and not sure what the turnoff entailed?? Kriisa’s farewell of "dream of a lifetime to play at UK" apparently wasn’t as sincere as he had intended. He enjoyed it and the benefits of it for a whole year? I wouldn’t think the Bearcats would actually be a upgrade so it would be nice to know the REAL story on this departure.
I don’t think it’s anything more than just him not being good enough to play alot here. I mean no disrespect to him. But clearly different levels of point guards or guards exist. Lowe looks like he can penetrante.. Not sure if Krissa has that ability consistently. Just passing the ball around the perimeter without someone being able to drive is exactly what Tennessee did to us in the last game.