Who will break out from the 25-26 Cats?

[JonathanW2]

This team is very deep. Oweh is the closest thing to a star player, but he might not even be. But let's assume he is.
Who else do you think will "break-out" and demand by his play 28+ mpg?
I could see it being any one of Quaintance, Garrison, Johnson, Lowe, Jelavic, Dioubate, K.Williams, maybe even Chandler.
I could also see most of the bottom 5-6 guys (14 man roster) breaking out for double digit minutes (Noah, Moreno, Chandler, Hawthorne), really anyone except Potter.
I think they guy I would put my $ on if I had too, would be Dioubate. But maybe Qauintance or Lowe is a safer bet.

Who you got?

 

[will1976]

Kam Williams for me.

 

[PastorofMuppets82]

I think Lowe is the most likely to demand large minutes by his play. The straw that stirs the drink if you will. I think Mo slowly earns more and more minutes with his tenacity and relentless motor. I think Noah sees an uptick from last year but nothing crazy and fills more of the Almanor role on this team. Chandler and JJ are question marks for me, they HAVE the talent and athleticism there, and if either one puts it together it could be hard to find minutes for all of our guards (but that's a great problem to have). Kam appears poised to take the Kobe Brea role with a defensive upside, could very well play himself into a lottery pick as some projections already show.

My biggest question honestly is the Center spot, not that we don't have depth or talent, it's who rises up and takes a stranglehold on that position? Is year two Garrison a more polished 5 and ready to take the mantel? Is a post surgery JQ the freak he was pre ACL tear once healthy? Is Moreno being slept on and overlooked? Will Potter surprise early in spot minutes and earn a role while JQ is getting back to 100%? Is Jelavic a sleeper small ball 5 with range and ability to stretch the floor and cause matchup problems? The schedule has some demanding big out of conference games early and it'll be nice to see who answers the bell for us. Can't wait to get started.

 

[Skyguy27]

I have been saying Kam isn’t getting enough credit for a long time but I would add to that list. Jelavic is gonna really flourish in Pope’s system with his skillset. Neither of these guys are getting the respect they deserve right now but they will soon enough.

An unexpected breakout season pick will be one of those 2 imo.

 

[ukjeepin]

I think with a team with this much talent there will be 3-5 guys that will go off multiple times this season. I think Aberdeen will lead this team along with Oweh. Mo is a go to beast. Lowe will have the ball in his hands the most, so I think he's a solid 15 PPG player. Jelavic is my wild card and if we go small ball and space the floor I am curious if he could play the 5.

 

[Buckwheat Otay Is Dead]

Early in the year Trent N will shoot lights out

 

[JonathanW2]

I have been saying Kam isn’t getting enough credit for a long time but I would add to that list. Jelavic is gonna really flourish in Pope’s system with his skillset. Neither of these guys are getting the respect they deserve right now but they will soon enough.

An unexpected breakout season pick will be one of those 2 imo.

I think you can make a valid case for several guys, including Kam. My main concern with him is that at a mid-major, with starter minutes, shooting a good %, he still didn't average 10ppg. That shows he didn't shoot a lot, either deferring to upperclassmen or simply passing up a lot of shots being very selective. Does he try to shoot more, and if so, does that cause his efficiency (shooting %) to go down?

 

[TheResistance]

Bobby Perry

 

[MaysviileKY]

I’m going to say Aberdeen. I think UK plays with a 3 guard lineup.

 

[gbl97]

Lowe. The offense will sputter when he's not on the floor, just like Butler last year.

 

[Anon1739778738]

Oweh, Aberdeen, and Dioubate are proven in major conferences as well as Lowe.The questions of performance lies with JQ"s recovery and the remaining roster.

 

[true-blue1]

I’m going with Aberdeen.

 

[ToniTonyToneDelkDelkDelk]

BG

 

[KYJD]

JQ and Lowe are too easy so I'm going with CC.

 

[DKersey]

Mo

 

[Vek96]

This team is very deep. Oweh is the closest thing to a star player, but he might not even be. But let's assume he is.
Who else do you think will "break-out" and demand by his play 28+ mpg?
I could see it being any one of Quaintance, Garrison, Johnson, Lowe, Jelavic, Dioubate, K.Williams, maybe even Chandler.
I could also see most of the bottom 5-6 guys (14 man roster) breaking out for double digit minutes (Noah, Moreno, Chandler, Hawthorne), really anyone except Potter.
I think they guy I would put my $ on if I had too, would be Dioubate. But maybe Qauintance or Lowe is a safer bet.

Who you got?

We don’t need anyone to “break out”. Just play for the team, and to win. Everyone will know their roles, and as long as they do what Mark wants them to do, it should be a successful season. However, I think the player that’s being overlooked, is Denzel Aberdeen.

 

[Bungalow Bill]

Chandler's going to have a big year. Expect him to be our best 3 point shooter. Good athleticism, size and will surprise defensively.

 

[Skyguy27]

Chandler's going to have a big year. Expect him to be our best 3 point shooter. Good athleticism, size and will surprise defensively.

It will be interesting to see who of him, Noah, and Jasper takes that title.

 

[Vek96]

Chandler's going to have a big year. Expect him to be our best 3 point shooter. Good athleticism, size and will surprise defensively.

Good post.

 

[Hank Camacho]

Mo Dioubate will look like Chuck Hayes next year and start all year, no matter how good Jelavic turns out to be.

 

[Anon1751545683]

I don’t know who will step up or out.
But someone better.

Oweh is a very good college player. But if he’s our best player in the ‘25/‘26 season then it will be a disappointing year.

 

[Eagles_Ball_69]

I don’t know who will step up or out.
But someone better.

Oweh is a very good college player. But if he’s our best player in the ‘25/‘26 season then it will be a disappointing year.

Underrated take. I agree. I don’t feel comfy at all if he’s our “dude”.

 

[JwUKFan11]

JQ but it will be because he does the things nobody else on the team can. Think about it, we have a ton of guys that can score in a variety of ways. The guy that can rebound, block shots, and just clean up misses is going to be the one that earns more minutes and that is exactly what he’s great at.

 

[Skyguy27]

Isn’t there 3 guys currently sniffing the first round? And I think Jelavic is gonna be better than advertised. Someone will definitely be the guy.

 

[ukfan042]

I think it’s gonna be Jasper. He’ll be that microwave scorer off the bench (may start for recruiting purposes) that’s gonna power that 2nd unit.

 

[*Fox2Monk*]

I think JQ and Chandler.

 

[Catsfan2025]

I think Kam Williams will be one of our top 3 players. I also think he will be our best shooter / complete player. JMO.

 

[Cleatortoises]

This team is very deep. Oweh is the closest thing to a star player, but he might not even be. But let's assume he is.
Who else do you think will "break-out" and demand by his play 28+ mpg?
I could see it being any one of Quaintance, Garrison, Johnson, Lowe, Jelavic, Dioubate, K.Williams, maybe even Chandler.
I could also see most of the bottom 5-6 guys (14 man roster) breaking out for double digit minutes (Noah, Moreno, Chandler, Hawthorne), really anyone except Potter.
I think they guy I would put my $ on if I had too, would be Dioubate. But maybe Qauintance or Lowe is a safer bet.

Who you got?

Nobody averages 28 per.
He doesn't play that way.
My guess.

 

[Goingfor9]

If chandler gets minutes from day 1 he will be our break out player imo. He was a top 30 recruit. He started to look very consistent down the stretch getting better every game. The guy is also a 21-22 year old sophomore. If we had picked chandler up as a transfer he would have gotten major buzz.