Your UK roster next year?

[South jones]

If you were the UK coach, which of the current squad would you want to retain and who would be free to tramsfer?
my choices to keep would be:
KAM WILLISMS
COLIN CHANDLER
MO DIABAUTE
ANDRE JELAVICH
JALAND LOWE
Malachi Moreno
Trent noah
Reece Potter
Brayden Hawthorne

I would go shopping for :
ANOTHER BIG
A POINT GUARD
A TWO GUARD(that could move to point in a pinch)
A THREE.GUARD
That's my wish list lol
forgot about JJ, would have to think about him

[bucsrule8872]

I am all about retention, so I hope all that can will come back. Oweh and Aberdeen graduate. JQ is not coming back. Garrison is optional. I’m fine with him coming back. It would be difficult to find a solid big man for a 9th-10th man role in the portal, so I would take him back.

That’s a good 11 man core.

That would leave us 4 scholarship spots to use in the portal.

I think another PG and another wing shooter should be the top priority.

If Dink Pare is eligible, go after him. He seems to want to come to UK.

The wing shooter we should be after is Brett Decker, Jr. He is a Sophomore and plays for Liberty and is from E-Town. He is second in all of D-1 in 3 point percentage (49%) and tied for 13th in makes (3.3 per game on almost 7 attempts per game).

[ganner918]

Starters
PG: Star portal transfer
SG: Chandler
SF: Williams
PF: Star portal transfer
C: Moreno

Put the biggest chunk of your money on getting those 2 transfers and retaining those 3 pieces (Williams would be relatively inexpensive imo). If the news on Stokes still being an option are true, you get him and play him and Kam as forwards.

Returning depth
I want Jelavic back. I think he can grow into a player that works well with how Pope plays.
I'd get Jasper back if we can at a reasonable price. He hasn't had a good year but he has potential.
Noah back if he's still ok being a 10th option guy.
Hawthorne let's bring back and see what he can do.
I don't think Mo works great with how Pope plays and I don't think we should pay him next year what we are this year.
Garrison I'd let walk.

Other portal
Backup PG is the biggest need
A wing shooter probably other big need here
Backup center needed
And if we don't get back Mo or Jasper, we get a replacement.

That looks like:
PG: Two portal guys
SG: Chandler, Jasper
SF: Kam, Portal Shooter (can play SG too), Hawthorne, Noah
PF: Portal or Stokes, Jelavic
C: Moreno, Portal, Potter

13 guys. We have 14 (2 redshirting) this year

[WeWant9]

Starters
PG: Star portal transfer
SG: Chandler
SF: Williams
PF: Star portal transfer
C: Moreno

Put the biggest chunk of your money on getting those 2 transfers and retaining those 3 pieces (Williams would be relatively inexpensive imo). If the news on Stokes still being an option are true, you get him and play him and Kam as forwards.

Returning depth
I want Jelavic back. I think he can grow into a player that works well with how Pope plays.
I'd get Jasper back if we can at a reasonable price. He hasn't had a good year but he has potential.
Noah back if he's still ok being a 10th option guy.
Hawthorne let's bring back and see what he can do.
I don't think Mo works great with how Pope plays and I don't think we should pay him next year what we are this year.
Garrison I'd let walk.

Other portal
Backup PG is the biggest need
A wing shooter probably other big need here
Backup center needed
And if we don't get back Mo or Jasper, we get a replacement.

That looks like:
PG: Two portal guys
SG: Chandler, Jasper
SF: Kam, Portal Shooter (can play SG too), Hawthorne, Noah
PF: Portal or Stokes, Jelavic
C: Moreno, Portal, Potter

13 guys. We have 14 (2 redshirting) this year

This is similar to my thoughts. If you told me to pick three guys to go all in to return it would be Moreno, Chandler, and Williams. I assume you'd let Lowe walk? I'd be okay if he came back as long as he understands nothing is guaranteed and UK will be going after other elite PGs. Jelavic is a guy I'd keep in Lexington all summer to work on strength and conditioning.

[ganner918]

This is similar to my thoughts. If you told me to pick three guys to go all in to return it would be Moreno, Chandler, and Williams. I assume you'd let Lowe walk? I'd be okay if he came back as long as he understands nothing is guaranteed and UK will be going after other elite PGs. Jelavic is a guy I'd keep in Lexington all summer to work on strength and conditioning.

Forgot to mention Lowe, with him not playing now. I don't want to count on him as the starter and we're paying him too much to be a backup. I doubt he takes a pay cut. I'm also assuming JQ goes pro.

[BIG BLUE GURU]

Retain as many as possible and go get Stokes, Tanner from Vandy or Hubbard from Miss. St

[WeWant9]

Retain as many as possible and go get Stokes, Tanner from Vandy or Hubbard from Miss. St

I have been a fan of Hubbard, he'd look good in blue and white.

[bucsrule8872]

Retain as many as possible and go get Stokes, Tanner from Vandy or Hubbard from Miss. St

Definitely agree.

I think Hubbard is a possibility. He is going to be a Senior and has never been with a contender. Tanner isn’t leaving Vandy, IMHO. They have a good coach and he is from Nashville.

But man, I would love to get Hubbard.

I think Pate is more likely, if the NCAA lets him play. He also has the size (6’7) to play the 2 and 3 as well, so I like his versatility.

Give me Stokes and Hubbard with everyone back (except JQ of course) and let’s go!

Starters

G Hubbard
G Chandler
F Stokes
F Jelavic
C Moreno

Key reserves

G Lowe
G Johnson
G/F Williams
F Dioubate

Deep Bench

F Hawthorne
C Garrison

Spot Duty

G/F Naoh
F/C Potter

Hubbard abd Chandler paired together in the backcourt would be absolutely scary good.

Then Moreno should be one of the best bigs in the country.

You can play Stokes at the 3 or 4. You can throw Williams in there with him or Jelavic or Dioubate. Depends on matchups.

I also think Jelavic could be a good option as a stretch 5 with a little work in the weight room and a little work on his jumper. I would probably rather see him get those minutes behind Moreno than Garrison.

I think Johnson could be a lot better with some work in the weight room. He just isn’t physical enough for the SEC. Too frail. Get him some iron to pump.

That would be a stellar squad.

[Trueblujr]

If you were the UK coach, which of the current squad would you want to retain and who would be free to tramsfer?
my choices to keep would be:
KAM WILLISMS
COLIN CHANDLER
MO DIABAUTE
ANDRE JELAVICH
JALAND LOWE
Malachi Moreno
Trent noah
Reece Potter
Brayden Hawthorne

I would go shopping for :
ANOTHER BIG
A POINT GUARD
A TWO GUARD(that could move to point in a pinch)
A THREE.GUARD
That's my wish list lol
forgot about JJ, would have to think about him

I think you retain all the guys you mentioned but include Jasper Johnson. I think he could take over Aberdeen's minutes. He could be a starter next year. Let Garrison walk, Find another Portal big guy with multiple years of experience to backup Moreno. Moreno could play himself into the lottery with another year under his belt. We lose a lot with Oweh, but if we assemble a better, more balanced roster that fits Pope's system, then his point production loss could be spread out over several guys. I'm 50/50 on keeping Mo D around or letting him walk. It's hard to say who has been part of the team chemistry issues, but maybe he finds a better role on the team after Aberdeen, Oweh and maybe Garrison are gone. I'm expecting big things from Hawthorne next year too. I can't see him leaving, if he was willing to redshirt, I think he legitimately WANTS to be here. He's been drawing comparisons to Prince.

The key is going to be avoiding a mass exodus. no matter what we want to say about this year's roster, it was built with a lot of guys having multiple years of eligibility, so we don't have to face another massive recruiting haul. We can focus on the 3-4 guys we really need. Let's just hope Pope can find those guys. I really would hate to see Pope's legacy here get tarnished by having another bad season.

[WeWant9]

I would be surprised if we don't have 2-3 of our guys enter the portal. That is just the nature of the beast these days for college sports.

[BJD]

I would be surprised if we don't have 2-3 of our guys enter the portal. That is just the nature of the beast these days for college sports.

I would be shocked if it's only 2 or 3. No one lined up to come here and most of these guys are outta here. Only ones that stay just can't get paid UK money elsewhere.

[WeWant9]

I would be shocked if it's only 2 or 3. No one lined up to come here and most of these guys are outta here. Only ones that stay just can't get paid UK money elsewhere.

Very possible with the way this season has gone.

[bucsrule8872]

Pope went to see Pate play yesterday.

He is suppose to be pretty good. He’s listed as a PG, but he’s 6’7-6’8, so he can probably play the 1-3. Good versatile piece to play with. Play him at PG until Lowe is 100%, then play them together. Or if Lowe doesn’t come back, he can be the primary PG. He would give us some options.

I would like to get him and Stokes and bring everyone (except OO, DA, and JQ) back.

G Pate/Lowe
G Chandler/Johnson/Noah
F Stokes/Williams/Hawthorne
F Jelavic/Dioubate
C Moreno/Garrison/Potter

Or some other combinations. Stokes can play the 3 or 4. That would give us some flexibility.

That wouldn’t be bad, if they can stay healthy.

[Catsrock]

Not saying don’t take Pate. Nice that he’ll be 20 in 3 days. But I thought we were wanting to get back to a team with some shooters. That’s not Pate. 35% overall and 21% from deep.

[UKSanders]

Not saying don’t take Pate. Nice that he’ll be 20 in 3 days. But I thought we were wanting to get back to a team with some shooters. That’s not Pate. 35% overall and 21% from deep.

I read somewhere his shooting %s this year are in the 40s overall and 35% from 3.

So, still not a marksman but respectable.