Eight takeaways from eight weeks of summer practice for Kentucky MBB

Inhale, deep exhale. After eight long, competitive weeks in Lexington, the Kentucky men’s basketball team has officially wrapped up summer workouts and returned home for a quick break ahead of the fall semester. It feels like just yesterday the move-in process got rolling to begin the pursuit of banner No. 9, and now, the Joe Craft Center has been emptied in what is the calm before the storm.

Mark Pope exceeded expectations as a rookie coach with the Wildcats, but can he bring them to glory as a sophomore? KSR checked in with several program sources with eyes on practice throughout the summer to get an early feel for the 2025-26 roster.

The general feedback? Optimistic, bringing back some of the high-floor qualities of last year’s group while taking on a new tough and gritty identity in hopes of extending the ceiling.

Otega Oweh is Otega Oweh — but better

Remember that feeling you had when Oscar Tshiebwe announced his return to Kentucky following a unanimous National Player of the Year campaign? The end result wasn’t what anyone had hoped, but there was indescribable comfort in that center spot entering the 2022-23 season, an ultimate safety net with guaranteed production. You only had to figure out the rest.

Oweh is similar in the sense that you know exactly what you have in his senior return as an All-SEC talent who scored in double figures in 33 of 36 games, averaging career-best marks of 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals per contest. He pledged to be “Back Better Now” entering his final season of college basketball, and the early returns suggest just that.

He’s the Oweh you know and love, getting downhill as an aggressive and crafty finisher while turning defense to offense, but there’s also been a noticeable jump in confidence. That’s translated to getting to his spots at will and efficiently knocking down shots from mid-range and deep. He’d coast from time to time given the offseason stage, but make up for it as a leader elsewhere, showing new teammates the ropes and holding them accountable in their first summer as a Wildcat.

It’s tough to end the summer early with a minor toe injury suffered in practice, but that won’t impact his season availability for Kentucky, fortunately.

Point guard spot is in good hands with Jaland Lowe

Oweh is somewhat of a guarantee. Lowe is not — publicly, at least. Privately, the All-ACC member has exceeded early expectations in Lexington and has been right there with No. 00 in terms of consistent production. The lightning-quick guard is always looking to push the tempo and earn paint touches, either finishing at the rim himself or finding teammates on the perimeter. He’s not an elite shooter, but he’s more than capable within the flow of Pope’s offense and is due for a jump, just as Lamont Butler saw his efficiency hit career highs in his lone season as a Wildcat. The turnover bug bites on occasion and he can be overmatched defensively, but there is a clear fight and want-to that is contagious with Lowe.

Kentucky signed a starting point guard it can trust to produce and run the offense, one that will be hard to keep off the floor. Your bigger questions come from depth at the position — if healthy, there is a path to 30-plus minutes per contest for the Pittsburgh transfer.

Denzel Aberdeen and Mo Dioubate are as advertised

When you’ve got SEC experience as key contributors on Final Four rosters, you know exactly what you’re signing up for. Aberdeen and Dioubate were both standouts off the bench, looking for expanded roles (and paydays) with a comparable spotlight and found the best of all of the above in Lexington. The former has been starting at the two and serving as the top point guard option behind Lowe while the latter has played all over the floor, defending guards on the perimeter and bigs in the post. They’re both plug-and-play pieces that bring a level of intensity and toughness last year’s group missed.

You shouldn’t expect either to see major breakthroughs as superstars necessarily — although Oweh’s jump came last fall, not summer, so we’ve seen it happen — but the floor is extremely high. If Oweh and Lowe were 1A and 1B after eight weeks, Aberdeen and Dioubate belong in the next tier of pretty darn good.

Trent Noah is the best shooter on the team

Most conversations about top performers this summer include the Mountain Mamba, who has replaced Koby Brea as Kentucky’s best shooter with insane efficiency in both live reps and drill work. There is a trust factor with Noah, emerging as a sure-handed perimeter threat while also having a nose for the ball on the glass and taking on a leadership role. He’s still a step slow defensively, but he fights and continues to improve his body in hopes of combating some of those footspeed and lateral quickness issues. Harlan County’s own will be in the heart of the rotation and contribute as a sophomore.

Collin Chandler picks up where he left off while battling injury

Sticking with the sophomores, Chandler was off to a phenomenal start before an injury took him off the floor midway through summer workouts. He was forced to miss the La Familia scrimmage and some time after, but returned before things wrapped up and continued to shine. No one touched Noah’s shooting after eight weeks, but the 6-5 guard was probably second-best on the team when healthy.

His game went to a different planet to end his rookie season after starting far behind his peers, shooting 54 percent from three from February 22 on — including 7-13 in the postseason. Assuming no setbacks this fall, the former four-star recruit is a sneaky candidate to compete for a starting spot alongside Lowe and Oweh. If not, he’ll be among the first players off the bench with the confidence matching the pro tools as a top-35 prospect out of high school set to turn 22 this season.

Jasper Johnson, Kam Williams and Braydon Hawthorne show flashes

Speaking of tools, this group of twos and threes has ’em — while still looking to put together the other stuff. Johnson is a long, shot-making guard and likely the best true scorer on the roster. He’s also rail-thin at 175 pounds. Williams has true 3&D star potential, but he’s also 6-8, 190 pounds and coming from the AAC. Hawthorne may have the highest upside on the roster, but he’s the same height as Williams and 15 pounds lighter. Kentucky is playing the long game there, while the other two will be leaned on as day-one impact pieces.

How will they respond to SEC physicality and toughness? That’s been a major talking point this summer with those three targeted by some of the experienced bruisers on the team fighting to make them comfortable being uncomfortable. There has been an adjustment period with turnovers and bad shots, but also spurts of absolute brilliance with the undeniable ability shining through. How quickly will the “woah!” moments outnumber and outweigh the “oof…” stretches?

Remember Rob Dillingham in Toronto? He struggled to play through bumps that summer and his efficiency fell off a cliff. Then he added muscle and became a top-10 pick. Johnson, Williams and Hawthorne have experienced similar growing pains — with similar upside.

The good news? Williams and Johnson both finished strong in extended reps with Oweh out due to injury in the final practices before break. Nothing better than making the most of your opportunity to end on a high note.

Searching for consistency with Brandon Garrison

The good news with Garrison is that he already proved he can contribute in the SEC, scoring in double figures seven times in his debut season at Kentucky. He went for 13 points and six rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game, along with league performances of 13 points and five rebounds at Georgia, 11 points, six rebounds and five assists vs. Alabama, 15 points vs. South Carolina, 12 points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks at Oklahoma and 15 points and four assists vs. LSU.

He also had nine games of two points or fewer.

The bad news with Garrison is that it’s been more of the same, the 6-10 junior not necessarily taking advantage of a cleared runway in the frontcourt with Amari Williams now in the NBA and depth an obvious issue this summer with Jayden Quaintance and Andrija Jelavic both out. The spot has been his to claim next to Malachi Moreno and Reece Potter, but instead, it’s been more of a by-committee approach with Dioubate even getting some small-ball looks as Pope explores his options.

The Oklahoma State transfer came to Kentucky on a two-year plan with Williams throwing him the keys on his way out. We’re still looking for Garrison to throw it in high gear and smash the gas pedal.

Malachi Moreno closes the gap at the five

Maybe it’s a product of another McDonald’s All-American stepping up? If Garrison is your ceiling guy at the five, Moreno has been a complementary floor addition for Kentucky in the same spot. The big-bodied 7-footer takes up space, sets hard screens, boxes out, finds the loose cutter, cleans up misses, catches lobs and alters shots around the rim. He’s not super flashy, but he gets the job done — a comfortable safety net if the highs and lows are a bit too extreme with BG.

There was an expectation once the roster was finalized that Dioubate and Jelavic would hold things down at the four while Garrison and Moreno would do the same at the five until Quaintance returned to game action, sliding the freshman Burger Boy into next-man-up position. Don’t be surprised if Moreno has something to say about that, because he did his part to close the gap this summer.