Fairleigh Dickinson transfer forward Ansley Almonor to visit Kentucky
Kentucky is expected to host Fairleigh Dickinson forward Ansley Almonor on Tuesday, per KSR’s Jacob Polachek. Almonor initially entered the transfer portal on March 19.
This past season, Almonor made 32 appearances for the Knights, including 31 starts. He averaged 16.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 43.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. Almonor’s 16.4 points per contest were the second-most in the conference.
Almonor made 93 3-pointers last season, tying the FDU single-season record. For his efforts, Almonor was named an All-NEC First Team member and was a two-time NEC Player of the Week.
In three seasons at FDU, Almonor amassed 92 appearances and 69 starts. He averaged 11.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the floor and 38.5% from 3-point range.
Now, Kentucky will look to secure a commitment from Ansley Almonor ahead of next season. Kentucky has already added seven players via the transfer portal since the program hired head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky’s additions are headlined by Andrew Carr, Koby Brea and Amari Williams.
Mark Pope raves about his growing roster
In an interview with Kentucky Sports Radio on April 29, Pope pulled back the curtain on the roster construction process.
“I’m really excited about where we are today,” Pope said. “It’s very artistic. It’s puzzle pieces. Every new piece kind of changes the picture, where you have to readjust and see what you’re looking for in the next piece.
“There’s so many things you don’t have control over,” Pope continued. “On our big board right now we’re actually working with 29 guys that we’ve really, really zeroed in on. Every time somebody bends a little bit in our direction or maybe fades a little bit out of our direction, we do more research and more reconnaissance and hear more information about guys and how they’re built. It doesn’t just change the picture for that guy but for all 30 guys.”
Of course, Kentucky has suffered no shortage of losses, either. The team lost every commit from its 2024 recruiting class besides four-star prospect Travis Perry. The ‘Cats have also lost seven players to the transfer portal.
Despite the losses, Pope is thrilled with the direction Kentucky is heading.
“I’m elated with where we are right now,” Pope said. “We got a ton of work to do. We feel like we’re really close in a lot of areas. I feel like we spend an inordinate amount of time [together] as a staff — late nights, early mornings.”