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How Mark Pope Discovered Ansley Almonor in the Transfer Portal

Using the “Moneyball” approach, Mark Pope and his staff plucked Ansley Almonor from the depths of the transfer portal.

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Kentucky Wildcats forward Ansley Almonor (15) celebrates in Rupp Arena.
Jordan Prather | Imagn

Given mere months to construct a roster after being hired as Kentucky’s head coach last spring, there was no way Mark Pope and his staff could’ve familiarized themselves with the entire transfer portal in such a short amount of time.

Yet, based on what he calls the “Moneyball” approach, he plucked Ansley Almonor from the bottom of the figurative transfer portal barrel. Coming into the season, he was ranked 345th on On3’s list of players looking for a new home.

Now? Almonor started a long stretch of SEC games in Andrew Carr’s absence and has tallied a number of big performances, including a season-high 13 points in a home win over the fifth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers earlier this month.

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The “Moneyball” Approach

“I didn’t know Ansley at all before I was here at Kentucky,” Pope admitted in his presser on Thursday. “We have a bunch of different prongs of our portal attack, and one of them is kind of the Moneyball space of how we run with guys in the portal.

“You have your Excel spreadsheet with all of the columns of data, and we start to say, ‘Okay, let’s forget the algorithm that puts all that data together and then ranks players, and let’s just only go to like these three data points and throughout all the other data and see who raises to the top of the list if we do that?”

Enter: Almonor, a transfer from Farleigh Dickinson, flying well under everyone’s radar.

“His name came up pretty prominently on a list of guys we’re like, what do you think? Is there any way?” Pope said. “And then we started to watch film… He was a good scorer, and he had a creative vibe as a cutter. He had a real sense about, kind of finding open space.”

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An Every Man

“And clearly we’re attracted to his ability to shoot the ball, and then you hear that he beat Purdue in the first round (of the 2023 NCAA Tournament). And so there’s that little component, like man, he’s played in big games and all that stuff kind of coming together.”

Almonor has gone from very few minutes a game to a starting role on a team fighting for a top seed of the NCAA Tournament, including every transitional phase in-between, and has kept the same level-headed composure through it all.

Not every transfer find will be a hit like this one, but when you’ve got a coach who knows how to dig and a staff armed with shovels, you’re bound to strike gold now and again, and Ansley Almonor is just that.

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Men's Basketball

Florida Transfer Denzel Aberdeen Commits to Kentucky

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Florida Gators

Another day, another “boom.” Denzel Aberdeen has officially committed to Kentucky for the 2025-26’ season.

A soon-to-be senior guard fresh off his championship win with Florida, Aberdeen spent his first three years of eligibility in Gainesville. Now, following an apparent conflict in the Gators’ rotation, he’s swapped teams in the southeast.

At 6 ‘5”, 190, Aberdeen spent much of this past season beating defenders off the dribble and making them pay at the rim. His speed and size made him a nightmare off the bench for opposing teams, and for the short stretch of play that he started during the year, Florida didn’t miss a beat. 

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In 19 minutes, Aberdeen averaged 8 points, two rebounds and one assist per game. His consistent contribution to the Gators’ title run made him one of the most coveted transfers in the cycle this season, and given his big blue commitment just days after entering the portal, Mark Pope clearly wasted no time in Kentucky’s pursuit.

Aberdeen slots in as yet another addition to what was already one of the strongest portal classes going into next season. His SEC experience and combo-guard intangibles make Aberdeen one of the most exciting portal players to come through Lexington in a long while, reinforcing Kentucky’s backcourt to what may be the final degree.

Whether or not Mark Pope is officially done for next season, nobody is sure, but this commitment only further cements the fact that he knows exactly what he’s doing. Just like his fanbase, Coach Pope seems to never sleep.

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Men's Basketball

Otega Oweh Declares for NBA Draft, Maintains College Eligibility

Arguably the centerpiece of last year’s team, Otega Oweh has declared for the NBA Draft… but that doesn’t mean he’s officially gone.

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Otega Oweh declares for the NBA Draft whilst maintaining his college eligibility.
Chet White | UK Athletics

Few players have taken the Big Blue Nation by storm like Otega Oweh did with his arrival this past season. A lot was new in Lexington last year, but #00 stuck out for a number of reasons; namely, his infectious energy on the court and the high odds that he was going to put an opponent on a poster on any given night.

Now, Oweh has declared for the NBA Draft. He made the announcement on social media, calling Kentucky fans the “best fans in the world.”

While this may seem dire for folks keeping tabs on next year’s roster, that last line in Oweh’s announcement is crucial: “…while maintaining my NCAA eligibility.” Essentially, Otega’s time in Lexington is far from over, at least for the time being.

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Whether or not “Tegatron” returns to Rupp will likely depend on what he hears during the draft process, and where exactly he wants to land. In the modern college basketball landscape, it’s become common practice for players to “test the waters” in the draft, just to get an idea as to where they stand with the league, before returning to college for another year of development.

Take, for example, Jaxson Robinson just last season. Before his eventual transfer to Kentucky, Robinson declared for the draft out of BYU, maintaining his eligibility, before pulling from the process in order to spend his senior year at Kentucky. It happens all the time.

While that doesn’t necessarily set Oweh’s return in stone, it at least gives the Big Blue Nation to take a breather and keep calm, as his departure is far from official. Either way, #00 is a Lexington legend whose first go-around in Kentucky blue was as memorable as anyone’s could be. The “Oweh, Oweh, Oweh” chants will go on regardless.

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Men's Basketball

Four Star Forward Visiting Kentucky Amidst Recruitment Rumors

Mark Pope is looking to close out a strong sophomore effort in the transfer portal, and this freshman guard may be the final piece.

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Four star guard Braydon Hawthorne is on a visit to Kentucky.
Braydon Hawthorne | WVU Athletics

As the transfer portal trucks on (and the NCAA races to find ways to regulate it), Mark Pope is looking to tie a bow on his already highly-ranked 2025-26′ roster. The latest potential addition becomes in the form of a freshman who, after pulling his commitment from West Virginia, will be on an official visit to Kentucky today, Wednesday, April 16.

Braydon Hawthorne, the 6’8″ forward at hand, is a lengthy, scoring wing with high upside on the offensive end. His 7’3″ wingspan opens opportunities for development on the defensive end, too – he’s an investment opportunity of the highest order. On3 currently has him at 48th on their ranking of 2025 recruits.

In addition to Kentucky and West Virginia (where Hawthorne is from), schools such as Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Marquette, Dayton, Old Dominion, Mount St. Mary’s, and more have thrown their hats into the ring, although the general consensus seems to be that Kentucky has the strongest pull/interest in the prospect for the time being.

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Whether or not that actually means he’ll be in blue and white is unfortunately unsure – as that’s how the transfer portal operates – but an in-person visit is a good indicator of mutual interest. Plus, with Kentucky “losing out” on Lamar Wilkerson, who committed to Indiana, a scoring spot in the back court remains open… and Hawthorne is a compelling candidate to fill it.

While Wildcats fans wait patiently for a potential commitment, all eyes are on Coach Cody Fueger’s X account for a trademark “boom” post.

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