It is hard to believe, but college basketball season is just around the corner, and the Mark Pope era is just a few weeks away for the Kentucky Wildcats.
Pope and his new roster in Lexington are gearing up for a big reset in the program and are ready to hit the hardwood against Kentucky Wesleyan on October 28th for an exhibition game.
The preseason rankings poll was officially released earlier this week, and Kentucky sits at No. 23 in the first AP Poll.
On the other hand, CBS Sports is much higher on the Wildcats and has Pope’s squad ranked No. 15.
The Cats are the third-highest-ranked SEC team in the CBS Sports rankings, behind No. 8 Tennessee and No. 1 Alabama.
Matt Norlander wrote, “Pope has seemingly assembled a 10-deep roster without holding on to a single player who was in uniform in Lexington last season. My best guess at the opening day starting five: Kerr Kriisa (WVU transfer), Lamont Butler (SDSU transfer), Andrew Carr (Wake Forest transfer), Jaxson Robinson (BYU transfer) and Amari Williams (Drexel transfer). Those five combined to average 60 points last season. First off the bench figures to be 3-point specialist Koby Brea, who might even play his way into the starting role. Brea’s commitment to UK solidified this roster’s validity as top 25-quality.”
Norlander continued, “Pope also has Ansley Almonor (16.4 ppg at Fairleigh Dickinson), Otega Oweh (11.4 ppg at Oklahoma) and Brandon Garrison (7.5 ppg at Oklahoma State), with Garrison’s long-term potential being a building block for the Pope era. Freshmen Collin Chandler, Travis Perry, and Trent Noah will give the UK staff a deployment that’s deeper than just about any roster Calipari had at Kentucky. (Notice I didn’t write “more talented.”) With games against Duke, Gonzaga, at Clemson and vs. Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic, the Wildcats will be tested regularly. I can’t wait to see how this behemoth of a program is reborn with a vastly different personality calling the shots.”
Pope has done a fantastic job assembling a competitive roster in Lexington, and it could be a lot of fun to watch this season!