2025-26 Roster Chatter (UPDATE: Oweh Returns, Roster Complete)

[DA#23]

Strong work

[Joneslab]

Nice pickup. Kinda surprised we got him tbh. Hope the kid is one who’ll fall in love with the program and stick.

[Catsrock]

I count 14 on the roster. Room for 1 more surprise I suppose.

[KCKUKFan]

Greta late pickup for the staff.

[dcaudle68]

How is 14 going to work???

[teamchemistry15]

I count 14 on the roster. Room for 1 more surprise I suppose.

I've seen some chatter that Walker Horn is going to return and be the 15th. This team is incredibly deep. Our 14th player is a top 35 high school player in the country. That's unheard of and Pope has erased all doubts of recruiting.

[Joneslab]

How is 14 going to work???

He likes to play a lot of guys, but you can't play that many. I'd say like every other team UK has ever had, there'll be three or four who won't play at all. He said in that interview two weeks or so ago that he'd like to get a couple more to try and bank them for down the road, so as to ward against the portal. I imagine Hawthorne and Potter were those players.

[Catsrock]

He likes to play a lot of guys, but you can't play that many. I'd say like every other team UK has ever had, there'll be three or four who won't play at all. He said in that interview two weeks or so ago that he'd like to get a couple more to try and bank them for down the road, so as to ward against the portal. I imagine Hawthorne and Potter were those players.

Probably right. And I love the IDEA. Just hope it works. Hopefully such players have accurate expectations. Say a guy comes in, works his tail off, then gets no time AND sees himself as just as good as the guys who are getting the minutes—in this day and age does he stick around hoping to crack the rotation in the next year? The staff will undoubtedly be going for the best players in the portal again in the next cycle.

Hopefully those left out will enjoy their paycheck, work hard and get better, and stick around. Even an in state guy didn’t. Of course Hawthorne and Potter have the size for a higher ceiling. Potter probably knows he won’t become an all-SEC player. Probably knows what to expect.

[EKYCat]

Probably right. And I love the IDEA. Just hope it works. Hopefully such players have accurate expectations. Say a guy comes in, works his tail off, then gets no time AND sees himself as just as good as the guys who are getting the minutes—in this day and age does he stick around hoping to crack the rotation in the next year? The staff will undoubtedly be going for the best players in the portal again in the next cycle.

Hopefully those left out will enjoy their paycheck, work hard and get better, and stick around. Even an in state guy didn’t. Of course Hawthorne and Potter have the size for a higher ceiling. Potter probably knows he won’t become an all-SEC player. Probably knows what to expect.

I think guys are getting recruited over all the time. Always have been. It's just different now that recruiting includes kids that are already playing college ball at another school. Some will probably stick, some will inevitably leave. Name of the game right now.

[Joneslab]

Matt Sak BBN
@MattSakR2NG
2h

4 Years of Eligibility remaining
Jasper Johnson
Malachi Moreno
Braydon Hawthorne
Andrija Jelavic

3 Years
Collin Chandler
Kam Williams
Trent Noah
Jayden Quaintance

2 Years
Jaland Lowe
Brandon Garrison
Mouhamed Dioubate
Reece Potter

Last Year
Otega Oweh
Denzel Aberdeen

[KCKUKFan]

Matt Sak BBN
@MattSakR2NG
2h

4 Years of Eligibility remaining
Jasper Johnson
Malachi Moreno
Braydon Hawthorne
Andrija Jelavic

3 Years
Collin Chandler
Kam Williams
Trent Noah
Jayden Quaintance

2 Years
Jaland Lowe
Brandon Garrison
Mouhamed Dioubate
Reece Potter

Last Year
Otega Oweh
Denzel Aberdeen

He is really putting pieces in place for a dominant team down the line.

[40bill]

As everyone including coach has reminded me the 4 years at one school model is gone. I lean to coach telling players what type of improvement they can reach in the second year and uses that as the base. Then it's pretty much up in the air as far as what comes next.

[Joneslab]

Hawthorne apparently was a lifelong UK fan. Same with Potter.

Which again suggests to me that they likely will redshirt next season.

[Mr.Nezzer]

I believe Pope has a plan to keep everyone happy....what that is, I have no idea...especially in this day and age.

[Joneslab]

We've reached the week Oweh will have to make a decision. The deadline is Wednesday at midnight.