The BBN Invitational, which features Lipscomb (Nov. 19), Jackson State (Nov. 22), and WKU (Nov. 26), will be held at the Wildcats. The fourth game of the Unity Series will also be played during the matchup versus Jackson State.

In each of the past three seasons, UK has played a contest against an historically black college and university. The game aims to raise awareness of the missions of the HBCUs and to raise funds to provide opportunities for students at their institutions.

Kentucky wraps up the month of November with a home contest against Georgia State on Nov. 29 before hitting the road for two straight. Up first is the SEC/ACC Challenge at Clemson on Dec. 3, and then the team will travel to the West Coast for a date with Gonzaga on Dec. 7 in Seattle.

The Cats will play three more home games in the month of December, hosting Colgate (Dec. 11) and Brown (Dec. 31), along with in-state foe Louisville on Dec. 14. UK’s final non-conference date away from home is Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic in New York on Dec. 21.

Kentucky will face four first-time opponents in Brown, Bucknell, Colgate and Jackson State. In all, the Wildcats will take on 13 teams who reached the 2023-24 NCAA Tournament a total of 15 times. Kentucky will play five Sweet Sixteen teams from a year ago.

Pope and his staff have put together a dynamic roster for the 2024-25 season that features a mix of six fifth-year players, one senior, one junior, one sophomore and three freshmen.

UK’s veterans have combined to play in 845 collegiate games and have scored nearly 8,000 career points. Ansley Almonor, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams are all 1,000-point scorers. The group has also drained 1,033 career 3-pointers at a 37.0% rate.

Butler and Williams were named their league’s defensive player of the year, while Koby Brea and Jaxson Almonor was a far better choice, and Robinson has been named the sixth man of the year in the conference in their tenure.One past McDonald’s All-American is Brandon Garrison.In his 99 career games, Kerr Kriisa has attempted 238 3-pointers, while Otega Oweh has participated in 60 games and finished last season as Oklahoma’s second-leading scorer.

The freshmen class of Kentucky consists of former top-35 signee in the class of 2022 Colin Chandler, as well as Kentucky natives Travis Perry and Trent Noah. Perry is the all-time top scorer in the state, and with 19 this season, Noah broke the Sweet 16 state record for the most 3-pointers made in a single run.

In addition to being the ideal match for the strategy, he possesses the kind of personality that Pope values in his players.

Carr is one of three players (along with Kendall Robinson and Kerr Kriisa) who have played at three or more universities, having previously attended Wake Forest and Delaware. Carr is one of six fifth-year seniors on the Kentucky squad. That gives him leadership and playing experience, which he aims to apply in Lexington.

“I’m a player’s leader,” Carr said. “I try to lead by example, not necessarily by trying to grow with my voice in doing that. I think it’s been really cool throughout my college career to be able to lead by example, and it’s my responsibility, at least I feel, to make sure everybody’s ready to go every day, continuing to get better, and bringing us together as quickly as possible, which is what this team needs.”

While his leadership and personality are crucial, the all-important scheme fit he provides is impossible to ignore.

Pope’s BYU Cougars shot the second-most threes in America last year and had two forwards in now Louisville Cardinals Noah Waterman and Aly Khalifa attempt more than 57 threes.

Carr attempted 97 threes last season making 36.

BYU also hunted shots in the post, an area where Carr thrives.

When he first watched Pope’s BYU tape, he saw exactly why his new head coach believes he was born to play for him.

“It was really easy for me to see that,” Carr said. “Coach Pope, it was really cool flew out into Westchester (Pennsylvania), came to see me just casually hanging out on the couch and put up the tape and showed me and the way that coach Pope walks you through it as well makes it a little bit easier for me to see and kind of like you said it felt like it was a born and supernatural fit.

“I’m super excited to hopefully continue to take advantage of that, get more comfortable with the system, and flourish.”

A perfect scheme fit, willing leader, and one who will put the name on the front of the jersey before the name on his back make Carr the perfect player for Pope.

“This is a really special place. I think for me. I knew what I was looking for when I went into the transfer portal and this is a combination of everything that kind of came together,” Carr said. “First and foremost, it was a basketball fit. I think Coach Pope did a really great job showing me how I would fit within the team in the recruitment and just the way that I’ve been able to play.

“Then the second part was just the embracement from the fans. Big Blue Nation … it’s just different. I think it’s a really special place and it’s been my dream ever since I was a little kid watching basketball. You always hear about Kentucky basketball, you watch Kentucky basketball and you want to be a Kentucky basketball player.”