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Who Has Kentucky Contacted and Who Could They Target in the Transfer Portal

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2 years ago

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© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports/ © Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports/ © Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports/

The transfer portal is heating up with the 2022-23 college basketball season coming to a close. With the season ending, players are looking to potentially take their talents elsewhere by putting their names in. The Kentucky basketball team is keeping their eye out and looking to capitalize on some available talent.

To this point, there are five prospects in the portal that Kentucky has reached out to, but don’t be surprised to see that list grow in the coming days/weeks.

Contacted Targets

Chris Ledlum, F (JR) – Harvard: Ledlum was one of the first players to enter the portal for 2023. He will have two years of eligibility.

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The forward stands 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds. In his junior year, he averaged 16.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.

Ledlum’s strengths include his high basketball IQ, his off-ball skills, his physical length and strength, and also his defensive ability. He averaged 1.8 steals per game this season and was second in the Ivy League with a 92.4 defensive rating.

His weaknesses are his overall athleticism and ability to shoot from beyond the arc. This season, he struggled shooting only 31.4 percent from three. For his career, he is only a 29.4 percent three-point shooter.

Other schools that have reached out to Ledlum include Indiana, St. John’s, Ohio State, Maryland, Arkansas, Xavier, UCLA, Nebraska, Florida, and LSU.

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Dalton Knecht, G (SR) – Northern Colorado: Knecht is one of the top-scoring threats in the portal for 2023. He has one season of eligibility.

Knecht is a 6-foot-6, 200-pound guard who averaged 20.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists this season. He shot 47.9 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three.

In addition to his ability to shoot, Knecht has the quickness and athleticism to make plays at the rim as well.

The athletic, scoring threat will be heavily desired as many top-tier programs have reached out to him already.

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Kel’el Ware, F/C (FR) – Oregon: Ware was a 5-star prospect in the 2022 class. He stands 7-feet tall and 210 pounds. He will have at least 3 years of eligibility left.

Coming off the bench for Oregon at 15.8 minutes per game, Ware averaged 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks.

The talented center has great size, length, and athleticism. He has an expanded skill set and ability to guard positions 1-5, much like former Kentucky 7-footer, Willie Cauley-Stein. Ware can create shots in mid-range, low post, and can stretch the floor with his ability to shoot the three.

TJ Bamba, G (JR) – Washington State: Bamba is a 6-foot-5, 215-pound shooting guard/small forward that can score in multiple ways. He will have two seasons of eligibility.

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This season, he averaged 15.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. He shot 37.2% from three. Another gifted scoring option should Kentucky end up locking him down.

Bamba has also entered his name in the 2023 NBA draft while maintaining college eligibility.

Graham Ike, C (JR) – Wyoming: Ike had a medical redshirt this season after sustaining a foot injury back in November. However, the season prior, Ike was one of the best big men in the country.

In 2021-22, the 6-foot-9, 225-pound center averaged 19.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

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In addition to Kentucky, he has heard from Arkansas, Arizona, Arizona State, Butler, Colorado, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, San Diego State, Seton Hall, Tennessee, Washington State, Xavier, and West Virginia.

Potential Targets

Ace Baldwin, G (JR) – VCU: Baldwin is a 5-foot-11, 170-pound guard from Baltimore. As a recruit of the 2020 class, Kentucky actually recruited him out of high school. He was an AAU teammate of former Wildcat, Immanuel Quickley.

This season, Baldwin averaged 12.7 points, 5.8 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. This was good enough to earn him Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. He also was named the conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Even though there is a prior connection, it is not likely that he will end up a Wildcat. There have been multiple predictions with close to 100% certainty that Baldwin will follow his coach, Mike Rhodes, to Penn State. But, nothing is decided as of yet.

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A player like Baldwin, a veteran point guard, will definitely be the type of player that Kentucky will look out for in the portal with the departure of Sahvir Wheeler.

LJ Cryer, J (SR) – Baylor: One of the best players in the portal, Cryer will be highly sought after. A freshman on the 2021 Baylor national championship team, Cryer has become one of the team’s stars.

This past season, Cryer displayed his ability to efficiently score at all three levels, averaging 15 ppg on 42 percent from three. In addition, Cyrer ranked in the 94th percentile in offensive efficiency against man-to-man defenses.

Given that Kentucky’s freshman guards will receive a lot of playing time, Cryer coming to Kentucky is unlikely unless there is an unforeseen issue, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Jerome Tang of Kansas State was Cryer’s lead recruiter when he was at Baylor, which assumes Kansas State as the early favorite.

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Puff Johnson, F (JR) – North Carolina: Johnson is the younger brother to former Tar Heel and current NBA player, Cam Johnson. He will have two years of eligibility. While it has been reported that Kentucky has reached out to Johnson, his father Gil, says that is not the case.

Johnson averaged 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds for UNC this season off the bench. He stands 6-foot-8, 200 pounds, with good length and athleticism. Out of high school, Johnson was labeled as a shooter/scorer but only shot 38.7% from the field, 28.3% from three, and 65.8% from the free-throw line.

Ahron Ulis, G (JR) – Iowa: Ulis is the younger brother to all-time Kentucky great, Tyler Ulis. He has one season of eligibility.

In his first two seasons at Iowa, Ulis served more as role player off the bench until he earned a starting role this season. In 22 minutes per game, he averaged 6.1 points, 2.1 assists, and 1.6 rebounds.

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The connection to the program is obviously there. His experience would be beneficial to have around for the young, freshman guards in DJ Wagner and Rob Dillingham coming in.

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Mark Pope Updated Lamont Butler’s Status Going Forward, “It’s An Interesting Thing”

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2 days ago

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December 20, 2024

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Kentucky Wildcats guard Lamont Butler (1) is helped to his feet by his teammates.
IMAGN

On Wednesday during his pre-Ohio State press conference, Coach Pope provided a brief update on the injury status of Lamont Butler who suffered an ankle injury against Clemson.

Even though Butler was able to play against Louisville, playing 32 minutes on a recently injured ankle could possibly lead to a setback. When discussing Butler’s injury on Wednesday, Coach Pope jokingly said: “Lamont’s ankle is an interesting thing because there’s part of me that wants to get it 100% healthy, and then there’s a part of me that, I don’t know if I want to get it 100% healthy. He was pretty good in that Louisville game.” Pope was smiling as he said that, referring to Butler scoring 33 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, and shooting perfectly from the field. 

Pope went on to explain that the UK coaching staff is being careful with Butler and currently holding him “out of contact” in practice. This means he’s doing the individual drills, offensive breakdown concepts, but when it comes to live action, Butler is not participating. 

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The good news for BBN, Pope ended his update on Butler by saying, “I think he’s over it, I think we’ve moved on, hopefully”. This is a good update on Butler and certainly infers that he should have no limitations for Saturday’s game against Ohio State.

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Acaden Lewis Nearly Axed Kentucky, but Mark Pope Won Him Over On and off the Court

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1 month ago

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November 22, 2024

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Kentucky basketball commit Acaden Lewis with coach Mark Pope on an official visit.
Chet White | UK Athletics

No one knew how close Kentucky was to missing its prized point guard in the 2025 class. According to a recent interview with Larry Vaught, he was ready to commit to Dan Hurley and the Connecticut Huskies. Yet, Mark Pope was still able to get his prized recruit.

Lewis is a top 40 recruit from the D.C. area who was a late riser in the recruiting rankings. The six-foot-two-inch guard had a tremendous junior campaign for Sidwell and Friends School. Lewis went from a fringe top 80 prospect to a consensus top 35 prospect wanted by every blueblood program.

“In the spring he was in a space where he was trying to shop himself,” Pope said. “Then by midsummer, he was trying to tell people to stop bothering me, ‘I can’t talk to every single school in the country.’”

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So how did the self-made top 35 prospect, near UConn commit end up at Kentucky?

In the summer, Mark Pope was on the verge of losing his featured point guard to Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies.

“He was on the verge of cutting Kentucky,” Acaden’s father Jarett Lewis said. “His choice was going to be UConn.”

When Pope received this information, he immediately made the trip to D.C. with his full staff, determined to change the momentum. That trip was essentially to “hangout” with and understand Acaden, as the staff immersed themselves in the point guard’s daily life, which ultimately resonated with those closest to the recruitment process. They watched Lewis work out in his neighborhood of Trinidad, then spent time with him at his local barbershop and home.

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“We live in the hood but they (Pope and Acaden) come down and hang out in the barbershop. There is no gimmick with Pope. He cares about where you are from, who you spend time with. If he likes you and wants you, he wants to understand you.”

That visit left a lasting impression, but Pope then continued traveling to D.C. weekly for a month to see Acaden, all kept under wraps. Jarett Lewis felt like his son was being recruited by Mark Pope as if he was another DC legend, Allen Iverson.

“I am floored because Mark and Jason had recruited him the hardest of any blue blood. Regardless of his ranking, Pope recruited him like he was Allen Iverson in his prime.”

The effort did not go unnoticed as Jarett wanted his son to take an official visit to Kentucky, and give them a chance.

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“I don’t care if you cut Kentucky but the thing we won’t do is not give Mark Pope a chance to address any concerns you have. The thing you do better than anybody in the country is communicate and whatever fears and concerns you have, now is the time for you to hold Pope accountable,” Jarett Lewis told his son.

From the edge of being cut, Acaden had a “home-run” official visit in Lexington for Big Blue Madness.

“He didn’t care about seeing campus. He wanted this visit to be about basketball. It was the most basketball-oriented visit we had and what we wanted. He loved it all and decided Kentucky was for him.”

“If I had not stepped in and said to let Pope visit, I guarantee you now he would be going to UConn. I basically forced him to take that visit but now he’s glad I did.”

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Next season, Lewis is set to pair in a Kentucky backcourt with Jasper Johnson, also joining five-star big Malachi Moreno. A great start to Mark Pope’s first recruiting class.

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Where Kentucky Basketball Stands in the Preseason Analytics

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2 months ago

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November 1, 2024

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The Kentucky Wildcats are set to tip off the season and the analytics belief they are in for a good first season under Mark Pope.
Jordan Prather | Imagn Images

With exhibition games now passed us, it’s a reminder that the season is just days away. With Kentucky winning both exhibitions by 71 points and 31 points, respectively, excitement is really starting to build in the Bluegrass.

The Wildcats were ranked 23rd in the preseason AP and Coaching polls. With an experienced team, the analytics have a lot of data to pull from and some believe that Kentucky is better than that ranking, while others believe they are worse.

H.U.M.A.N Poll (KenPom subscribers): 16th
Haslametrics: 17th
EvanMiya: 22nd
Bart Torvik: 23rd
KenPom: 43rd

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Among doing this for teams, they have data on each team’s players as well.
Kenpom projected Kentucky’s most valuable player to be Wake Forest transfer
Andrew Carr. Andrew Carr was ranked as the #108 most valuable player in the
country. EvanMiya agrees with this, giving him a 4.54 Bayesian performance rating.

These data projections may be a bit skewed. Some of the rankings were very
interesting as seen here.

  • Andrew Carr (No. 108)
  • Brandon Garrison (No. 142)
  • Lamont Butler (No. 145)
  • Kerr Kriisa (No. 155)
  • Amari Williams (No. 158)
  • Otega Oweh (No. 167)
  • Koby Brea (No. 174)
  • Jaxson Robinson (No. 240)
  • Travis Perry (No. 1,041)
  • Trent Noah (No. 1,281)
  • Collin Chandler (No. 1,632)
  • Grant Darbyshire (No. 1,820)
  • Ansley Almonor (No. 1,912)
  • Walker Horn (No. 4,133)

Kentucky is currently listed to have seven players in the country’s top 200
most valuable players. However, the big shocker is the
projected value of BYU Transfer Jaxson Robinson.

Again, these projections are a bit skewed, as we do see Walk-on Grant
Darbyshire as being more valuable than Fairleigh Dickenson Transfer
Ansley Almonor.

Some guys were however listed as more valuable than some may
think. Brandon Garrison Oklahoma State Transfer, and former
McDonald’s All-American comes in at #142.

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Garrison showed out during Kentucky’s Pro Day displaying
a great ability to defend and protect the rim. Garrison also showed a
fantastic motor and incredible athleticism. He is someone who I
foresee playing a huge role in the Cats Frontcourt this season.

Another surprise was Colin Chandler coming in at #1,632. Chandler
was a 4 Star prospect coming in at #33 in the 2022 Class. Chandler
took some time away from the sport to embark on a mission trip
overseas. He is starting to get back into the swing of basketball and is
someone who I think could surprise a lot of folks this season.
Overall, the National Media views Kentucky as a middle-of-the-pack
Top 25 team. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the
course of the season.

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