Well, it has been 4 whole days since the 2024-2025 Cats season ended. I thought we could start discussing the Cats and Coach Pope's 2nd season as the coach of the Wildcats. I thought overall he had a very good season especially with the competitiveness of the SEC this season. They put together a 24-12 season with wins over 2 of the Final 4 teams. What does everyone think the 2025-26 season will bring. I know it is a lot harder than it was several years ago with all of the player movement. So, let's see what everyone else thinks about the Cats players, schedule, and what we see the team accomplishing next season. Go Cats! BBN

I am currently watching Great Crossing and Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno playing in the McDonald's All-Star game from New York on ESPN.

1 hour ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

I am currently watching Great Crossing and Kentucky commit Malachi Moreno playing in the McDonald's All-Star game from New York on ESPN.

Moreno looked good. A lot of high end talent in that game - more than usual.

3 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

Well, it has been 4 whole days since the 2024-2025 Cats season ended. I thought we could start discussing the Cats and Coach Pope's 2nd season as the coach of the Wildcats. I thought overall he had a very good season especially with the competitiveness of the SEC this season. They put together a 24-12 season with wins over 2 of the Final 4 teams. What does everyone think the 2025-26 season will bring. I know it is a lot harder than it was several years ago with all of the player movement. So, let's see what everyone else thinks about the Cats players, schedule, and what we see the team accomplishing next season. Go Cats! BBN

Next year is definitely a big year for the Cats and Pope. The honeymoon period for Pope will be over now. As with so many ready to move on from Cal and the first round losses the last few years. Popes knew energy was going to keep the fanbase overall calm compared to normal. This will be the only year under Pope where he would be getting the majority of UK fans overall happy saying it was a good year with just a sweet 16 finish. That won’t be the case moving forward, so next year will be big to show things are still moving in a positive direction. 
 

I know I’m really interested in seeing the type of roster he puts together this year. He has shown he has a good offensive scheme, but now needs to add more athleticism to the team than what we had this year. 

1 hour ago, Voice of Reason said:

Moreno looked good. A lot of high end talent in that game - more than usual.

He is really an excellent passer. 

8 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Moreno looked good. A lot of high end talent in that game - more than usual.

Watched him in the state tournament last year and then this year. His improvement was dramatic. He's always impacted the game on the defensive end but now he blocked shots and rebounded under control; he wasn't just flailing around and getting dumb fouls. His offensive game will need to be refined but Pope seems to do a good job with centers. I don't think Moreno starts but there should be playing time for him.

It was just announced that Kentucky has added a game for December 23 at home vs. in state school Bellarmine.

All over X that Garrison has removed any mention of Kentucky from his IG profile. While there is no mention on there, I'm not sure there was or wasn't before. 

FWIW everyone is going to be tore up until he either says he's staying or it's confirmed that he's leaving. 

 

8 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

All over X that Garrison has removed any mention of Kentucky from his IG profile. While there is no mention on there, I'm not sure there was or wasn't before. 

FWIW everyone is going to be tore up until he either says he's staying or it's confirmed that he's leaving. 

 

I hope he comes back, but understand if he leaves with Quaintance coming in.

Here's a question for everyone:

If Williams had a year left, for next season would you rather have Williams or Garrison?

43 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

I hope he comes back, but understand if he leaves with Quaintance coming in.

Here's a question for everyone:

If Williams had a year left, for next season would you rather have Williams or Garrison?

Williams. I think he had a lot of untapped potential as a secondary playmaker, which could have been better showcased with more talented players. There were games where the dude had to be the primary ball handler and playmaker. He isn't that.

3 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

I hope he comes back, but understand if he leaves with Quaintance coming in.

Here's a question for everyone:

If Williams had a year left, for next season would you rather have Williams or Garrison?

I’m higher on BG than most I think and would have rather had BG back. I think BG’s potential is higher and I just said this in another thread. However, I think we would see a big jump this year in BG. Similar to what we saw in Nick Richards junior season. 

5 hours ago, futurecoach said:

I’m higher on BG than most I think and would have rather had BG back. I think BG’s potential is higher and I just said this in another thread. However, I think we would see a big jump this year in BG. Similar to what we saw in Nick Richards junior season. 

This is my thinking too. My concern with Williams is first and foremost low motor. Very rarely did I see the intensity and focus I hoped to see. Second, the dude cannot shoot which limits him and the offense. I think Garrison shows potential shooting the ball and he has the motor and intensity - things that are hard if not impossible to coach into a player.

Incoming freshmen Acaden Lewis has decommitted from UK. 

14 minutes ago, All State Baseball said:

Incoming freshmen Acaden Lewis has decommitted from UK. 

I just saw that too. Sucks losing him, but that unfortunately is the nature of things in college basketball these days. With the transfer portal and bringing in experienced guys at positions. It can turn off some incoming freshman, because of knowing playing time may be harder. So players look more for guaranteed playing time early on at places. 

Not shocked to see Lewis decommit. He likely would've been fighting with Noah and Perry for minutes and they wouldn't have been fighting for many minutes.