LIVE UPDATES: 2025 Kentucky Basketball Media Day
It’s almost basketball time in the Bluegrass, and not a moment too soon. Kentucky Basketball Day is being held today at Memorial Coliseum and the Joe Craft Center, with Mark Pope, Kenny Brooks, and the men’s basketball players all speaking to reporters after lunch.
Pope takes the podium at Noon ET, followed by Brooks at 12:45 p.m. Reporters will get 30 minutes with the players on the court starting at 1 p.m. KSR has an army of folks on the ground to cover it all. Refresh this post for the latest updates.
Videos from today
10/06/2025 02:55:51 PMCatch up on today with the many, many videos we’re putting out on the KSR YouTube Channel.
Summing up what Kenny Brooks had to say
10/06/2025 02:21:06 PMKenny Brooks didn’t get quite as much time at the podium as Mark Pope, but in his time in front of the mic, he did say a lot of good things — most notably about how the team is coming along.
It’s no secret that losing Georgia Amoore and Dazia Lawrence hurts, but the team has a cast of returners and newcomers that can make Kentucky a contender in the SEC.
“I’m very excited about this group. At this point, we’re just trying to build chemistry,” Brooks mentioned. The team has had a great mentality this summer. They’re practicing like they have a chip on their shoulders.
“We expected the attitude,” Brooks added. “When they came to campus, they were ready. They were ready to go to work. What I didn’t expect — they’re taller than I remember them being.”
We recently learned that Teonni Key (6-foot-5) and Amelia Hassett (6-foot-4) both grew an inch this offseason too. This is a big team — bigger than Brooks and the staff initially thought it would be. So, instead of spraying and praying from deep all the time, they can use their size to their advantage.
Speaking of Key, Brooks has been super high on her this offseason. She’s blossomed into a leader both on and off the court.
“She’s put in so much work to expand her game,” Brooks said. “Because of that, we’ve given her — just go. We want her to play with confidence. If she’s playing like that, it gives us a chance to beat anybody.”
Pope on the freshmen
10/06/2025 12:13:37 PM“Braydon Hawthorne is like, I cannot wait for you guys to spend time with Braydon Hawthorne. He is just joy. Like, he is joy. And if you’ve ever been privileged to have a friend who has no guile, then you know what I mean about how lucky you are to be around a person who is just unfiltered. Just gives you his whole heart. He’s not putting up a wall. He’s not trying to be too cool. He is just genuine joy. I love his kid and his ceiling. Tayshaun Prince came and visited us a couple of weeks ago, and I looked at those guys standing shoulder to shoulder. I’m like, my gosh. Like, you know, right now. BH is actually just a little bit broader than Tayshaun, which is crazy, but this is Braydon Hawthorne; he’s built special, and I think he’s got an incredible upside.”
“Jasper Johnson, I can’t tell how proud I am of him, the intentionality with which he’s trying to grow in the places that might not have been his strengths. Like, he is digging in on the defensive side, and trying so hard to buy into what we’re telling him this game is going to demand of him this season, he’s doing an unbelievable job. And he’s become a much, much more consistent, consistent shooter, as well as being dangerous. And you know, his percentages are really good right now, and so I’m incredibly proud of his focus, and he’s growing every single day in important ways.”
“And Malachi Moreno, he walked on the court and was a presence from the very second he walked on the court. And he’s gonna have some growing pains because he’s a freshman, but his impact is incredible. He is, I’m trying to remember, if I’m saying these numbers, right? He’s in the high 70s, low 80s in terms of field goal percentage right now, and he’s our leading rebounder on the team. And he just is a dominant force inside, and his communication skills are growing, and he’s got a chance to be really special in a list of bigs that have been incredible.”
Big Blue Madness Fan Fest details
10/06/2025 11:43:26 AMPope shared the details of the fan fest that will precede Big Blue Madness on Saturday. It starts at 4:30 PM ET in the exhibit hall outside Rupp Arena and will be free and open to all fans. The entire team will be there to meet and engage with fans.
“This is going to be open to everybody in the public for free. You don’t have to have a ticket to Big Blue Madness. I’m going to be there. The guys are going to be there, signing [autographs], talking, pictures. We’re gonna have a bunch of booze there and food there, and games there and it’s just an opportunity for us to just reach out and actually touch and hug every single member of Big Blue Nation. It’s going to be unbelievable.”
Pope on Rev-Share: “Right now, we feel like we’ve got a beautiful Ferrari and we can’t wait to take it for a spin”
10/06/2025 11:41:57 AMPope gave a long answer about how Kentucky is handling revenue-sharing, but the last line is all that matters.
“Again, for this coming cycle, we’re working under a totally like first time ever set of rules, standards. And working off a cap is just something that’s so new, right? And so, we’re modeling every single day, and it’s complicated. There’s all kinds of dynamics about how to do that. I do know that for us right now, we’re so excited about this team that we have right now, that our number one focus is there, and then all this stuff about next year and how that works. We’re going to deal with that when next year comes.
“But right now, we feel like we’ve got a beautiful Ferrari, and we can’t wait to take it for a spin.”
Pope on recruiting
10/06/2025 11:35:39 AMWith the transfer portal, NIL, and now rev-share, recruiting is more complicated than ever, but Pope said the new variables make it even more fun. His biggest challenge: finding the right players for Kentucky.
“I continue to say that the most important part of this process for us is not finding the best, highest-ranked player. You’d be shocked at how many times we end up mutually walking away because we know what Kentucky is, and finding the right player here, it doesn’t amount to the sum of just going to find the highest-ranked player.”
Pope wants to press more this season
10/06/2025 11:34:13 AMWhen asked, Pope said that he would like to press more this season than last based on the makeup of the new squad.
“We have the personnel, and I think we have the depth, and I think we have the athleticism and the mobility and the determination, togetherness, to find a way to be functional, extending pressure, which is hard to do. It’s harder in college basketball than it’s ever been, because guys are so skilled, but I think we can do it.”
“If we were to beat Purdue by 30…”
10/06/2025 11:32:09 AMKentucky hosts Purdue on October 24 in an exhibition. When asked, Pope said he’s not sure what he would do if the Cats blew the Boilermakers, the preseason No. 1 squad, out.
“If we were to beat Purdue by 30, I would be, I would be like, I would be like, Wow. I would walk into my office and be like, what just happened? I mean, this Purdue team is great, right? And so they’re a marker of kind of where we’re trying to get.”
Pope still loves last year’s team
10/06/2025 11:29:37 AMObviously, today is about the new guys, but Pope said he’ll always hold a special spot in his heart for last year’s squad, members of which it sounds like will attend Big Blue Madness.
“I was actually incredibly proud of our guys last year, that group we had last year. I mean, it’s actually unbelievably cool. For Big Blue Madness, we have families coming back, and we have players coming back. I mean, the attachment to that group in my heart will never go away. I love those guys, so I felt like they managed all of that in a brilliant way. And I think that this year, we’re, we’re capable of doing it even better.”
Pope downplays Pat Kelsey spat
10/06/2025 11:26:52 AMOur own Matt Jones asked about the Pope-Pat Kelsey spat outside Tay Kinney’s apartment in Atlanta.
“I want so badly to have fun with this, guys. I’m not sure what direction to go with it. I’m just going to make all of it up. It was really a big nothing, but I want it to be something. I can’t decide if I should make up a story or not.”
Pope didn’t make up a story, but instead said he’s happy Kentucky’s rivals are getting better because it’s good for college basketball.
“I love it when the competition is elite level, and that’s what happens. It gets really fun and salty and competitive and, and I also am grateful for these incredible coaches. Like, you know, we’re at a fun time right now where there are great coaches that are putting their whole heart and soul into this project, and sometimes that can spill over and it should spill over sometimes, because if it never spills over, that means you’re not like, in it, fully, fully in it with your whole heart and soul. If you’re fully in it, then sometimes you step out of bounds, and that’s fun for fans, and it’s fun for coaches, and it’s fun for everybody.”
Returning guys making a jump forward
10/06/2025 11:24:09 AMPope praising the progress his returning players have made this offseason. Trent Noah is averaging 1.76 points per possession during scrimmages — “I’ve never seen that number ever in the history, college basketball, I mean it’s only two weeks in.” Collin Chandler is leaving the team in defensive impact metric, “DIM.”
“Both those guys have made just Herculean, massive jumps. And most impressive of all, Brandon Garrison, just write this down. Brandon Garrison is winning conditioning runs at the end of practice.”
JQ’s ACL rehab progress is “unbelievable”
10/06/2025 11:21:19 AMPope said that Jayden Quaintance continues to make incredible progress with his ACL rehab but UK will still take a cautious approach.
“The one thing I can tell you is he is breaking every record known to humankind in terms of his rehab. It’s unbelievable.”
“Time wise, he’s just going so fast, but we are going to proceed with extreme caution, because there’s a balance that we’re trying to strike where he’s got an incredible, incredible future in this game, and we’re going to gonna make sure he gets every opportunity to help this team be great, and also have an opportunity to go on and do all the great things he’s gonna do after Kentucky.”
Jayden Quaintance continues to beat Pope in chess
10/06/2025 11:18:52 AMMark Pope and Jayden Quaintance’s battles on the chessboard continue, and the big man is still kicking Pope’s butt, to the point JQ added a new rule in hopes of making it more competitive.
“So he was at the house two nights ago, and he was beating me so bad in the game of chess that we invented a new rule where I get to turn the board one time. So he was beating me so bad, I’m like, ‘Okay, freeze. I’m going to turn the board, and you have to play my position. I’ll play yours.’ And the best I could come out of it was a draw, barely.”
Lots of praise for Mo Dioubate
10/06/2025 11:16:00 AMPope asked to describe each player on this team in one word. He’s struggling to narrow it down for Mo Dioubate
“Mo is unique. Okay, I can’t do one word, because he’s got all these sides. He’s got the Mo-tivation side, he’s got the Mo-D for Kentucky side. He’s got the dog side. He’s got the incredible, humble, faithful, devoted side. He’s got the side where he’s going to protect his teammates at all costs, no matter what happens, ever, ever, ever. Like, this Mo Dioubate is special.”
You can read more about Mo in my feature that went live last night (you can also watch it on YouTube). He really is special.
Pope on Purdue/Georgetown exhibitions
10/06/2025 11:14:20 AMThanks to the NCAA changing the rules to allow D1 teams to play each other in the preseason, Purdue and Georgetown will come to town later this month for exhibitions at Rupp Arena. Pope said if he had his way, teams could play 41 teams, but until then, he’s excited to test his team before the first game.
“We’re gonna find out! I’m really grateful for it. I love it, you’re gonna hear me say it over and over, can we get to 40 games? I would like to get to 41 games. Not only do we get to play the preseason No. 1 team in the country, we get to do it before the season even starts. It’s going to test us in a really special way.”
National championship expectations, per usual
10/06/2025 11:13:04 AMNot surprisingly, Pope says the expectation this year is to win a national championship, which is the standard at Kentucky.
“If we had three players on this roster, the expectation would still be to win a national championship.”
Jaland Lowe/Lamont Butler comparisons
10/06/2025 11:10:38 AMPope says he has “big expectations” for point guard Jaland Lowe, whose development he compared to Lamont Butler last year. Pope said Lowe can take a big step forward by improving his efficiency.
Pope praising team’s competitive fire
10/06/2025 11:09:16 AMPope loves how competitive this team is so far, thanks in large part to Collin Chandler, “the most kind, loving guy off the court who wants to rip your heart out off it,” and Mo Dioubate, who has brought a “beautiful, competitive, bully mentality” to the squad.
“This is a competitive group. They love to compete. We have competitive souls on this team.”
Kid reporter gets the first question
10/06/2025 11:06:50 AMIn what has become a tradition, a kid reporter got the first question at Media Day and asked Mark Pope which actor he’d choose to play him in a movie. Pope suggested the reporter, a fifth-grader, should play him, to which the fifth-grader suggested it should be Brad Pitt. Pope agreed to that.
Andrija Jelavic cleared by NCAA
10/06/2025 09:05:40 AMMedia Day started with some very good news: Andrija Jelavic has been cleared by the NCAA, which allows him to participate in all basketball activities, including UK’s Pro Day tomorrow, Big Blue Madness on Saturday, the Blue-White Event next week, and exhibitions vs. Purdue and Georgetown later this month.
Interestingly, Jelavic is listed as a sophomore in the “Meet the Cats” video that UK just released. I’m sure that we’ll hear more about that from Mark Pope momentarily.
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