Presented By Building Blocks A Redemption Story Inside: BASKETBALL 2425 2024-25 OFFICIAL KENTUCKY BASKETBALL YEARBOOK BASKETBALL 2425 ®$ 600+ IN SAVINGS EVERY WEEK WITH DIGITAL COUPONS Scan here to start saving. Official Grocer of UK Athletics.2 @KentuckyMBB 2024-25 Wildcats 20 Ansley Almonor 22 Koby Brea 24 Lamont Butler 26 Andrew Carr 28 Collin Chandler 30 Grant Darbyshire 32 Brandon Garrison 34 Walker Horn 36 Kerr Kriisa 37 Trent Noah 38 Otega Oweh 39 Travis Perry 40 Jaxson Robinson 41 Amari Williams Coaching Staff 44 Head Coach Mark Pope 46 Associate Head Coach Alvin Brooks III 47 Associate Coach Mark Fox 48 Assistant Coach Cody Fueger 49 Assistant Coach Jason Hart 50 Assistant Coach Mikhail McLean 2024-25 Opponents 52 Wright State 53 Bucknell 54 Duke 56 Lipscomb 56 Jackson State 58 Western Kentucky 60 Georgia State 62 Clemson 63 Gonzaga 64 Colgate 65 Louisville 66 Ohio State 67 Brown 68 Florida 69 Georgia 70 Mississippi State 71 Texas A&M 72 Alabama 73 Vanderbilt 74 Tennessee 75 Arkansas 76 Ole Miss 77 South Carolina 78 Texas 79 Oklahoma 80 Auburn 81 LSU 82 Missouri University & Tradition 84 University of Kentucky 86 President Eli Capilouto 88 Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart 91 Hall of Fame 92 Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center 94 Kentucky in the NBA 98 Kentucky in the NBA Draft 101 Kentucky in the NCAA 102 Kentucky in the SEC 104 Unparalleled Tradition 107 Retired Jerseys 108 All-Americans 111 UK Sports Network 2024-25 Kentucky Basketball Yearbook is published by the University of Kentucky Athletics Department. University of Kentucky Athletics Director: Mitch Barnhart Communications and Public Relations: Deb Moore, Greg Welsh 410 West Vine St., Suite 150 Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 226-4540 UK Sports Marketing Powered by JMI Sports Brandon Baker, Curtis Burch, Randy Carter, John Foellger, Annie Gillenwater, Devin Jones, Michelle Knezovic, Jensen Linder, Adair Mattingly, Seth Poteat, Kim Ramsay, Lance Reed, Chad Ruhl, Brad Tucker Design & Publishing Managing Editor Jai Giffin Creative Director Jamie Barker Production Assistance Laura Doolittle, Lisa Roberts On the Cover Top (l-r): Head Coach Mark Pope, Koby Brea, Jaxson Robinson, Andrew Carr, Collin Chandler, Trent Noah, Amari Williams, Lamont Butler, Ansley Almonor, Travis Perry, Brandon Garrison, Kerr Kriisa and Otega Oweh Presented By Building Blocks A Redemption Story Inside: BASKETBALL 2425 2024-25 OFFICIAL KENTUCKY BASKETBALL YEARBOOK BASKETBALL 2425 ® Building Blocks The pieces came together quickly for new UK head coach, Mark Pope, as anticipation builds for the 2024-25 season. 4 A Redemption Story Fifty years ago, the 1974-75 Wildcats brought excitement to the Bluegrass finishing the season in the NCAA national championship game. 8 2024-25 KENTUCKY BASKETBALL CONTENTSBy Tom Leach “Voice of the Wildcats” — BUILDING BLOCKS — The pieces came together quickly for new UK head coach, Mark Pope, as anticipation builds for the 2024-25 season. 4 @KentuckyMBB@UKSportsNetwork 5orse industry people will talk about talented horses in a way that describes their ability to do what other horses do but do it faster — it's not how fast you're going, it's how you're going fast." Mark Pope has set a rapid pace in his time since landing his dream job as head coach at Kentucky last April and as he heads into the home stretch of preparing for his first season at UK, there's no sign of him short- ening his strides. When I had the chance to get an ex- tended interview with Pope for the first time last May, the first question I asked was if he had been able to take a minute to catch his breath from that fast pace. His answer may explain why he seems like a perfect fit for this most challenging job. "I hope not. Hopefully, we'll be blessed to have a long tenure here and not breathe the whole time. That's what makes this job so beautiful." Pope found himself in "triage" mode when he arrived in Lexington with his wife and four daughters. The only returning players from last season were two players who had joined the program as walk-ons in Grant Darbyshire and Walker Horn. Pope had little time to build a roster for the 2024-25 season. The easy way to build a new roster could’ve been to go to the transfer portal and without looking at position or video, just choose the best players available ac- cording to a national list. Pope had a plan, though, so the task became finding the right mix of players to fit his system and start building a team culture. "I love the study of teams, 'teamology,'" says Pope. “It's fascinating to see how hu- man beings function together under the stress and duress of chasing dreams. I love the dynamics and incorporating skill sets and how personalities work together." Pope also needed to concentrate on building a coaching staff. One of the first calls he made was to the guy who coached him as a player at the University of Wash- ington more than three decades ago, Mark Fox. Fox listened to Pope’s vision for the next chapter of Kentucky basketball and liked what he heard. "The thing that I like is our pieces fit to- gether well,” Fox said. “He (Pope) was very selective in who we recruited because the puzzle pieces have to fit." According to Fox, a great emphasis was placed on finding quality 3-point shooters to fit Pope's system. Pope also added some big men who can stretch the floor so UK won't have to play small ball to maximize their 3-point production. "We got the guys that we targeted,” Fox says. “We're extremely pleased with how this all worked out." 6 @KentuckyMBBPope's foray into coaching began with a job on Fox's staff at Georgia, but not be- fore Fox tried to convince him to stay in the medical profession before opting for a much lower paying position on a basketball staff. "Not many times would you tell someone that they made the right decision to leave medical school but he's such a great coach that it has proven to be a great choice. He is super-smart, he's got great energy and he's very analytical in how he sees situ- ations and young people. He's got a great basketball mind," Fox observed. "He has an ability to communicate with younger guys and get them to do what he needed them to do. When you can do that, you have a real future in this game. "I think often times, the quality of job you get allows you to maximize your talent or it doesn't. This program will allow him to maximize his potential as a leader," Fox continued. "I think he can be the face of the program in the way that will allow him to showcase his unique abilities." When Hal Mumme brought his "Air Raid" offense to Kentucky football, he once compared the approach to music, saying The Eagles had played "Hotel California" thousands of times so that it sounded per- fect the one time someone in the audience heard it for the first time. That was achieved through relentless repetition and players un- derstanding how to play off each other more so than executing plays. When I hear Pope explain his offense, I sense similarities. Pope says his 3-point heavy approach is fun to coach and engaging for fans. That statement sounds a bit like what his men- tor Rick Pitino was saying when he came to Kentucky some 30-plus years ago. "So much of what we do is determined by how much of the floor we can force teams to cover. Much of what we do and much of what is being done in the NBA right now is that cut- ters get paid. Cutters in college win ball games. We're looking for guys that have the energy and IQ to be cutters. We need guys that can make reads and we need guys who can pass the ball. The game, in general, has moved to this position where everybody can make reads and process information really quickly. Every- body needs to cut, move, relocate and use space. So much of basketball now is the ability to shoot the ball," he explained. On the other end of the court, Pope talks about two important concepts -- a player's ability to "guard his yard" or his man and "switchability," meaning at how many of the five positions can Kentucky switch one play- er off on another. (Think about that 2015 defensive juggernaut UK had when a player like Willie Cauley-Stein could switch onto a point guard for at least part of a possession). Pope landed two players in Lamont But- ler and Amari Williams who were regarded among the top defenders in their respective leagues and a big man in Brandon Garrison who brings big-time potential for defensive disruption as a shotblocker. Another key element, the "special sauce" as Pope calls it, is players putting in the time to know each other's games. Think of how many times you have seen the entire UK team attending events like the La Familia games in The Basketball Tournament or per- haps a UK volleyball match. On a more tangible note, Pope is a big believer in analytics and how the numbers can help individual players understand how to best maximize their ability and how the coaching staff can be challenged in the way it thinks about the team. "I love to push our study of the game as far as we can. I also know that we spend time with questions rather than answers. Rarely does a great coach have a 100 per- cent certainty in every situation so you're going with your best guess. One of the things I love about the numbers is they chal- lenge conventional wisdom," Pope said. "I love when the numbers tell me the opposite of what I'm seeing and feeling. Let's dig in and let me learn why the algorithm is off or missing some component or let me learn what I'm not seeing. As human beings, we walk around with these biases (like recen- cy bias for example). I'm always trying to check myself because I don't want my de- cision-making to be based on the biases I have. I love the process. I think it helps us be better and it helps our guys." “We tell recruits that by the time you leave Kentucky, you will be the world's expert on your game,” Pope says. “We tell them things about their games that they don't know. When we do that, their confi- dence really rises." CBS college basketball writer Gary Par- rish says there's one number trend that could work against Kentucky this season. "You don't know how these pieces fit to- gether until they fit together,” Parrish said. “Last year, there were a handful of teams that took seven-plus transfers and almost none of them were good. Now, in Mark's case, this was a unique situation — he didn't have a choice,” Parrish continues. "Count me as a believer, though. If you ask me to put to- gether a bracket, I'd put Kentucky in it. I like the pieces and I like the coach so I'm going to believe in it until I have a reason not to." Parrish believes that Pope's stock will continue to rise at Kentucky. "The truth is, he's done a great job since he was hired,” Parrish said. “I believe he's won people over and this is a guy who is going to have a very good career at his alma mater. He might not have been number one on anybody's wish list but I think he's going to be successful and I think it's got a chance to happen really quickly." @UKSportsNetwork 7Next >