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KSR's five things to watch for at Kentucky Pro Day

Jack PIlgrimby: Jack Pilgrim10/07/25
Kentucky basketball practice huddle (Photo via Chet White | UK Athletics)
Kentucky basketball practice huddle (Photo via Chet White | UK Athletics)

It feels like just yesterday we were piling into Historic Memorial Coliseum to watch Mark Pope‘s debut team suit up with an audience for the very first time, Kentucky‘s Pro Day event in 2024 taking place exactly one year ago today. The Wildcats’ shooting ability stole the show while Lamont Butler emerged as the obvious starting point guard alongside other stable forces in Amari Williams, Koby Brea and Jaxson Robinson with Trent Noah, Collin Chandler and Brandon Garrison showing flashes. All of the brand-new puzzle pieces were coming together and you could see the vision of a very good team.

Now, those high-potential pieces are the guys Kentucky will lean on to lead while mixing in other portal standouts and seeing just how much you can get out of your freshmen, all of them anchored by returning All-SEC talent Otega Oweh. 2025 will be different, but a good different, and we get to see it all for ourselves tonight at 5:30 p.m. ET, live on SEC Network+.

KSR will be in attendance at HMC bringing all of the coverage you could ever need, but until then, how about some things to watch for while we watch the clock move ahead of the first official on-court basketball event of the season?

How close is Jaland Lowe to a 1B option on this team?

The only question when it comes to Otega Oweh in the short term is just how quickly he can shake off the turf toe injury that’s kept him away from live action since the late summer. His ramp-up is nearly complete, now transitioning to full-contact reps with zero concern of availability hiccups for exhibition play and beyond. How hard will he push in front of NBA scouts at Pro Day? We’ll see, but they’ve seen plenty between his breakout junior campaign and the draft process — along with what’s to come in his final season of college basketball.

All eyes are on Jaland Lowe, though, to see if all of the preseason hype is justified. He was an all-league player at Pittsburgh with efficiency issues, compensating for a lack of talent around him with tough shots and turnovers trying to do too much. The early rumblings suggest he could be joining Oweh with All-SEC accolades when award season rolls around, with an outside shot at All-America honors for the Wildcat duo. He’s off to a terrific start behind the scenes, but now, his push for stardom goes public.

What can scouts learn about potential top-five pick Jayden Quaintance?

Barring a massive (and welcomed) surprise, Kentucky’s top draft selection next summer will be Arizona State transfer Jayden Quaintance. A freak-of-nature athlete combining size (6-11, 255) and skill as a next-level shot-blocker with handles and feel, we’re all playing the waiting game as he inches closer toward his return. Mark Pope says he’s “breaking every record known to humankind” in his ACL rehab, but won’t put a timeline on his debut — KSR is hearing January at the latest while not ruling out December.

Scouts will be doing the majority of their Quaintance homework during SEC play and into the postseason, but what can they learn about the likely lottery pick now? He’s participating in shooting and ball-handling drills while getting comfortable again running and jumping. How much does he show off with the cameras rolling and staffers from all 30 NBA teams in attendance? They’ll be blown away by his body transformation regardless.

When will Andrija Jelavic be ready for the NBA?

The only real unknown going into Pro Day is where things stand with Kentucky’s latest on-campus addition, Andrija Jelavic. Missing eight weeks of summer practice in Lexington, the 6-11 forward from Croatia is behind — and admits his start with the Wildcats “was tough, I’m not going to lie” — but catching up quickly. He’s also played several years of professional basketball, so his learning curve is a bit different from other first-year college players. His adjustment is more about the pace, style of play and physicality rather than talent. He’s got plenty of the latter.

We learned he’s been classified as a sophomore by the NCAA due to his age and academic progress — he’s taken college courses and enough credits transferred over — so he’ll have three years of eligibility to work with. Will he need all three? Just two or even one? That’s what Jelavic and the Wildcats are working through now as he carves out a role to begin his career at Kentucky. Scouts will get to see just how far along he is (and how much more he has to go) as a potential day-one contributor compared to where he left off suiting up for Mega Superbet in the Adriatic League. Fans will be excited to get their first look on SECN+, too.

How real are the ‘Herculean, massive jumps’ from Collin Chandler and Trent Noah?

Pope is the king of hyperbole with beautiful, extravagant and sensational descriptors — everything the biggest and best. You love the optimism and excitement, but sometimes have to cut through the fat to find the juicy nuggets while translating. That’s what makes his comments about his sophomore returners so interesting, saying Collin Chandler is leading the team in DIM (defensive impact metric) while Trent Noah is scoring 1.76 points per possession in live practice reps.

“Both guys have made Herculean, massive jumps,” Pope said.

Thing is, those comments align with all of the practice intel that has come out of the Joe Craft Center throughout the summer and into the fall. Noah has been the team’s best shooter while Chandler’s confidence is on another planet as a serious two-way threat and leader. It will be hard to keep either player off the floor this season.

It’s time to see just how real that jump is for both players.

Will any other pros emerge?

Kentucky went into last season with one surefire pro in Jaxson Robinson and closed out with two draft picks, mostly by surprise, in Koby Brea and Amari Williams. Robinson, along with Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr, would sign NBA deals while Ansley Almonor would use his one-and-done season in Lexington to help earn him a pro contract in Finland.

This year, Quaintance is the draft lock while Oweh will also hear his name called. Elsewhere, question marks are all over the place with guys certainly capable of playing their way into the draft conversation. You have two top-30 recruits in Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno, a toolsy 3&D threat in Kam Williams, a former Burger Boy in Brandon Garrison pushing toward his sky-high ceiling, two SEC staples in Denzel Aberdeen and Mo Dioubate and one of the most intriguing long-term prospects in the country in Braydon Hawthorne. Chandler came in with serious draft upside and belongs in the conversation, too, while Noah is doing all of the little things right and is a certified sniper.

Who will we be talking about when Pro Day wraps up, turning scouts’ heads as Pope’s next potential draft picks? My money is on Johnson and Chandler.

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