Is Kentucky a top-five team?
The Kentucky Wildcats still have to round out their roster fully, but for the most part, fans should know what and who to expect in Lexington next season.
The Cats will have to replace a ton of frontcourt production from Andrew Carr and Amari Williams. Lamont Butler’s leadership and grit will be challenging to find again as well.
That said, the Cats already have a few commits from the transfer portal (Jayden Quaintance, Kam Williams, Mouhamed Dioubate, and Jaland Lowe) to aid the missing production from those few. They will likely add a 1-2 more names along the way.
With the college hoops season officially coming to a close on Monday night with Florida lifting the national championship trophy, all eyes are now on next season, and the Wildcats are expected to have a strong roster. They came in at No. 6 in Jeff Borzello’s way-too-early top-25 rankings.
Here’s what he said about Kentucky.
“Kentucky could be loaded on the perimeter next season, with the arrivals of transfers Jaland Lowe (Pitt) and Kam Williams (Tulane), as well as top-25 prospects Jasper Johnson and Acaden Lewis. That’s on top of the potential returns of leading scorer Otega Oweh and rotation players Collin Chandler and Travis Perry. Mark Pope needs more options up front, but Monday’s commitment from Alabama transfer Mouhamed Dioubate gives the Wildcats some toughness and versatility,” he wrote.
This ranking came out prior to Quaintance committing to Kentucky, so it’s fair to think the Cats would move up several spots if Borzello had a chance to factor that in.
That said, they are the top SEC side. As for others, Houston topped the rankings with Louisville coming in at No. 3. Arkansas was placed at No. 7. Alabama and Auburn came in at No. 11 and 12, respectively.