Kentucky opens the 2024-25 season with the Wright State Raiders.
The Kentucky Wildcats are set to open their season Monday night vs. Wright State, which is also the first game of the Mark Pope era. This Kentucky roster, despite being completely revamped this offseason, is stacked with experience.
There are multiple players on this roster who bring a great pedigree into Lexington this season. It’s guys like Lamont Butler, a Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year at San Diego State. Koby Brea brings a solid pedigree from Dayton, where he was the A10’s Sixth Man of the Year twice. Jaxson Robinson is playing for his fourth team as he joins Kentucky.
A roster with six graduate students, all of them bringing valuable experience and talent to this Kentucky team, offers hope that this Kentucky team can finish above its preseason projection of eighth in the Preseason Poll.
With that, let’s look at the Wright State Raiders, the Wildcats’ first regular-season opponent. We’ll look at the program, Players to Watch, their head coach, notable alumni, and keys to the game.
Wright State Raiders
Wright State has been a Division I program since 1987, and they have been to the NCAA Tournament four times since then. They have been in their current conference, the Horizon League, since 2001 where they have won four conference regular-season championships and three conference tournament championships that resulted in NCAA Tournament appearances.
For the first time in eight seasons, the Raiders will have a new head coach in Clint Sargent. The Raiders return seven of their top 11 scorers from last year’s team, and they were picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League Preseason Poll.
Players to Watch
1. #14 Brandon Noel 6’7” 210 lbs. R-Jr. Forward Lucasville, Ohio
The 2023 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, Noel was the Raiders third-leading scorer last year, averaging 14.5 points per game. He also led the Raiders in rebounding with eight per game and was also second on the team in minutes per game (34.4) and field goal percentage (53.5). An All-Horizon League Second Team member, Noel is one of 23 players in Wright State program history with 500+ career rebounds, and he finished in the top 10 in the Horizon League in rebounds, field goal percentage, minutes, and blocks. Noel had six 20+-point games last year with nine double-doubles.
2. #3 Alex Huibregtse 6’3” 205 lbs. R-Sr. Guard Grafton, Wis.
Huibregtse is the leading Raider in assists returning this season, and he was fourth on last year’s team in scoring at 12.3 points per game. The Grafton, Wis. native shot 52.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three-point range. Huibregtse will distribute the basketball and not seldomly turn it over, ranking third in the Horizon League with a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio with 3.3 assists per game.
3. #22 Andrew Welage 6’6” 205 lbs. Gr. Guard Greensburg, Ind.
Even though Welage played just 15.5 minutes per game, he is a three-point shooter to watch in this game. Welage had two games last year with five or made threes, including seven threes against Indiana. A three-point shooter off the bench can be demoralizing for any opponent, so Welage is definitely a player to watch on Monday night.
4. #2 Drey Carter 6’8” 210 lbs. R-So. Guard Bellfontaine, Ohio
Carter was an efficient bench player last season, making 51 of 93 field goal attempts. Carter played 11.7 minutes per game, with nine games of 15 or more minutes.
5. #21 Logan Woods 6’5” 185 lbs. R-So. Guard Cincinnati
Woods averaged 2.3 points per game in 11.1 minutes per game last year. His career highs are 19 points and 23 minutes.
6. #15 Braden Grant 6’7” 210 lbs. R-Jr. Forward Dayton, Ohio
Grant appeared in three games before missing last year due to an injury. He’s the Raiders seventh-leading scorer to return from last year’s team.
Head Coach: Clint Sargent (1st season)
Sargent has been with the Raiders program since 2016, having spent the previous three seasons as Wright State’s associate head coach. Sargent, a former South Dakota State player, was previously the program’s head of operations coordinator after a two-year professional career. A Sioux City, Nebraska native, Sargent’s wife, Jill Young, scored over 1,300 points in her four-year career at South Dakota State.
Notable Alumni
Joyce Beatty: Beatty serves in the U.S. Congress, representing Ohio’s 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses Columbus and surrounding areas.
Keys to the Game
1. Don’t get into a track meet for 40 minutes: Wright State can score and shoot. The Raiders averaged over 86 points per game last year and shot 53 percent from the field. The best way to mitigate this is to slow the game down.
2. Dominate from start to finish: Even though both teams in this game are led by first-year head coaches, Kentucky has the better team in terms of talent and experience. Not letting Wright State hang around will go a long way toward a successful first game in the Mark Pope era.
3. Be efficient on offense: Wright State allowed over 81 points per game. If Kentucky is efficient on offense on Monday night, they should run up the score to a dominant win,
Score Prediction
Kentucky 90, Wright State 73