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Mark Pope on potential roster movement: ‘I love our roster right now’

Danby: Daniel Hager05/29/25DanielHagerOn3
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Feb 19, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope watches the action during the first half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

It’s safe to say that Kentucky head coach Mark Pope really likes his roster for the upcoming season.

Pope, who is heading into his second year on the job, has completely turned over a program that lost eight players from last season’s Sweet Sixteen team. The former Wildcat and 1996 National Champion discussed Kentucky’s roster, which was still incomplete just two weeks ago.

“I love our roster right now,” said Pope when asked about potential roster movement. “We could have a little bit of movement here, but I think we’re in a pretty good spot.” Since this statement, the ‘Cats have added a development piece and returned a major contributor to round out their 14-man roster.

First, Kentucky earned a commitment from incoming freshman forward Braydon Hawthorne, who is the No. 35 ranked player in On3’s Class of 2025 Rankings. Hawthorne, who decommitted from West Virginia after Darian DeVries took the head coaching position at Indiana, picked Kentucky over Virginia Tech, Duke, Pittsburgh and West Virginia on May 20. Hawthorne joins center Malachi Moreno (No. 24 in CO ’25 Rankings) and guard Jasper Johnson (No. 36 in CO ’25 Rankings) as incoming freshmen.

Next, 2025 All-SEC selection Otega Oweh announced on Wednesday that he would be forgoing the NBA Draft to return to Kentucky for his senior season. Oweh, who will be in the running for SEC Preseason Player of the Year, headlines a roster that will be present in multiple Preseason Top 10 rankings.

Kentucky returns four returning players in Oweh, junior forward Brandon Garrison, sophomore forward Trent Noah and sophomore guard Collin Chandler. To replace the six transfers from last season’s team with no more eligibility, Pope and his staff also hauled in six more transfers from the Portal this offseason.

This includes senior guard Denzel Aberdeen (Florida), sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State), junior forward Mouhamed Dioubate (Alabama), junior guard Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh), sophomore guard Kam Williams (Tulane) and junior center Reece Potter (Miami OH).

Finally, Kentucky added forward Andrija Jelavic, a sharp shooting forward from Croatia. There will be extremely high expectations for Pope’s second season in Lexington, but his roster certainly looks the part with months to go until the regular season tips off in November. Kentucky’s full roster is listed below:

2025-26 Kentucky Basketball Roster