Kentucky basketball will be good on both ends of the floor.

The Kentucky basketball team is coming together, and Mark Pope has recruited a roster that should be really good on both ends of the floor.

Last season at BYU, Coach Pope’s team was ranked 18th in KenPom with an offensive ranking of 14th and a defensive ranking of 60th. While it was better than Kentucky’s numbers from a year ago, the same issue is present. Coach Pope’s team has a much better offensive ranking than defense.

Coach Pope clearly wants to correct these numbers during his first season at Kentucky based on the way he recruited in the transfer portal. Amari Williams and Lamont Butler were two of the first few players Coach Pope got from the portal, and they are both elite defenders. Coach Pope also landed Otega Oweh from Oklahoma, who is another great defensive player.

But BBN, don’t worry, as the Wildcats also stacked up some elite offensive weapons as Coach Pope brought in Andrew Carr, Koby Brea, and Jaxson Robinson, who will all put a bunch of points on the stat sheet every night.

The way Coach Pope put this roster together, the hope is that the Wildcats will be top 20 in both offensive and defensive rankings on KenPom. Teams that have numbers like this are the ones that make runs in the NCAA Tournament.

Unlike last season, the 2024-25 Kentucky basketball team is going to be able to get stops so they won’t have to win every game in a shootout. Coach Pope has put together the perfect roster.

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Kentucky basketball’s best player off the bench might surprise fans

Kentucky fans need to be ready for this Wildcat to have a big season.

Kentucky fans already are excited about players like Andrew Carr, Koby Brea, Jaxson Robinson, Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler, and Amari Williams but one name that isn’t discussed all that much but should is Ansley Almonor.

Last season at Fairleigh Dickinson, Almonor averaged 16.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. Almonor was the 44th best three-point shooter in all of college basketball last season as he went 93 of 236 for a percentage of 39.4 from deep.

He is only 6’7 but has played center and power forward during his entire college basketball career, so he is used to being undersized at his position.

Almonor will likely come off the bench for Carr, and these two players do a lot of the same things. Almonor is just in a smaller frame than Carr. There is a world where Almonor is the Wildcat’s best player off the bench this season, thanks to his shooting and ability to help on the glass.

Almonor will come in the game for the Wildcats and immediately become a mismatch for any defender on the floor. If Almonor has a season where he shoots the ball well, passes to open players for shots, and helps on the glass, he will be a massive part of why this team has a solid season and goes on a run in March.

Kentucky Athletics sent out this quote from Coach Pope about Almonor, “Ansley is one of the best shooting mid-major bigs out there, and he is a tremendous mover without the basketball. He’s a fearless competitor with great leadership qualities. Ansley is a finance major who comes from an unbelievable family from Haiti. He’s a great addition to this roster as a veteran presence with a lot of college basketball under his belt.”