Mark Pope discusses his ideas regarding the roster for the upcoming season and the possible return of the Kentucky duo.
There haven’t been any definitive announcements from Kentucky natives Trent Noah and Travis Perry in the wake of last week’s season-ending loss in the NCAA Tournament, but UK coach Mark Pope teased the potential return of both players Monday night.
So far, backup point guard Kerr Kriisa is the only player from the 2024-25 UK men’s basketball roster who has made a statement on his future in the aftermath of the Wildcats’ loss to Tennessee in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
Kriisa announced Monday morning that he will enter the transfer portal, a move that has long been expected in UK basketball circles
On Monday night, Pope held his final weekly radio show and — while he didn’t explicitly rule out the possibility that one of his other players with eligibility remaining could follow Kriisa into the portal — the implication was that Noah and Perry would be back with the Cats next season.
Asked by a caller what Noah could look like as a college sophomore, Pope said he and the player met for “a long time” Sunday.
“He is special,” said the coach. “And I think to start with what he’s gonna look like next year, I think you have to trace back his trajectory. And one of the things that he said to me was, ‘Coach, when I was in high school, we played zone. I never guarded anybody.’ And, man, did he make incredible strides on the defensive end.”
Pope said he and Noah talked about the speed and athleticism of the college game and how much of an adjustment that was when he arrived in Lexington.
“When he first got here, it was shocking to him, and he just, every day, picked up more and more and more,” Pope said. “And he felt — and I felt — by the end of season, he just felt like he belonged. That’s an incredible transformation as a freshman at this level, playing against the teams he played against, with the players he played against, with the stakes so high. And I expect him to continue to get better and better.”
Pope said that he thinks Noah — a 6-foot-5 forward from Harlan County — will continue to get better as an offensive creator off the dribble and gain more confidence as a defender.
“He’s got a real physicality on both sides of the ball that’s special. I think he’s going to get better and more creative with what he’s doing in terms of his reads. He’s going to be a tremendous player. I’m excited for him to put on — over the course of the next year or two — a good 15 to 18 pounds, where he’s going to just inflict physical punishment on guys and really be able to own his space. He’s going to be a special player, because he’s built right. He’s built in a beautiful way.”
Perry — a 6-1 guard from Lyon County — made the most definitive statement of anyone in UK’s locker room following the Tennessee loss by saying that he “certainly” intended to return to the Wildcats for his sophomore season.
Pope made it sound like that was still the plan three days later.
“Travis Perry is really special, man,” the coach said. “What an unbelievable young man. And he is going to carry this Kentucky banner. He’s pretty extraordinary.”
Kentucky’s 2025-26 roster
Along with Noah and Perry, three other Wildcats from Pope’s first team — Otega Oweh, Brandon Garrison and Collin Chandler — could return for next season.
Oweh is expected to test the NBA draft process and return to Kentucky if he pulls his name out of the draft. Garrison might also enter his name in the draft. He said after the loss to Tennessee that he would consult with his family and his agent before making a decision and implied that he would be back at Kentucky next season if he remains in college.
Neither Oweh nor Garrison is currently projected to be picked in the NBA draft range this year.
Chandler reiterated his trust in Pope as a head coach, but the Utah native made no definitive statements on what he planned to do beyond this season, though he also hasn’t said anything that would indicate he plans to enter the transfer portal.
Still, Pope knows the reality of the current college basketball landscape, with well over 1,000 players jumping into the portal since it opened last week. Surprises can always happen.
“I think every player in the country right now is considering 100 different things, in terms of entering the portal, staying on their current roster, trying to figure that out,” Pope said. “And I think it probably changes every single day. And I think with every single move that teams make, it changes. It’s going to continue to be that dynamic for some time. … And so I don’t know when the roster will be finished, actually. I think you could get to a place where you think you finished the roster, but because of the roster composition, somebody makes a late decision to kind of change what they’re doing.”
Pope also noted that there will be guys who go through the draft process and then end up being late additions to a team’s roster, whether they return to their current program (like Oweh is expected to do this offseason) or transfer to a new one (like Jaxson Robinson did last year after pulling out of the draft and committing to Kentucky
The deadline for possible draft picks to make their stay-or-go decisions will be May 28.
“And so we’re going to pound it every single day like we’re doing and put together a great group of guys,” Pope said. “And it’ll come together the way it’s supposed to. But it’s going to be fun. I mean, it’s going to be fun to pay attention every single day, because every single day the narrative is going to change.”
As far as team needs for next season, Pope acknowledged that Kentucky would try to get some more physicality on its 2025-26 roster through the transfer portal.
The Cats already have a commitment from 6-8 wing Kam Williams, as well as three high school signees — 7-footer Malachi Moreno and combo guards Jasper Johnson and Acaden Lewis — to join whoever returns from this past season’s team
That will still leave a few spots to fill.
“First, we’re going to emphasize the character of the guys,” Pope said. “They have to meet a threshold in terms of being here to wear this jersey. That’s really, really important to us. And the connective tissue of this team is incredibly important. And then, of course, we’re looking for the same thing everybody’s looking for. I value shooting, and I value decision making, decision making, decision making. We love motor so much, and motor plus length is even better.
“Right now, one of the things we’re learning about this league is the brutal physicality of the glass. And so you can get there two different ways. You can either be 100% diligent every single possession, which is a really special talent. Or you could just have a brutal physicality to kind of get the job done. And so that’s clearly going to be a priority for us. Just the physicality of the game is going to be really important. There’s a lot of factors that go into determining where we’re thinking with players
Leave a Reply