Mark Pope is putting an emphasis on defense in the transfer portal

mark-pope-putting-emphasis-defense-transfer-portal — Photo by Mitch Alcala for The Oklahoman | USA TODAY NETWORK

After adding Brandon Garrison into the fold on Tuesday morning, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope is now up to seven committed pieces for the 2024-25 season. Five of the seven have come via the transfer portal, but more importantly, four of those five are among the nation’s top defenders.

According to PhD statistician Evan Miyakawa’s projections at EvanMiya.com, Pope has brought in four of the Top 25 defenders who have entered the transfer portal this offseason.

Those four include Amari Williams (16th; Drexel), Otega Oweh (18th; Oklahoma), Lamont Butler (19th; San Diego State), and Garrison (21st; Oklahoma State).

“For context, the projected Defensive BPR (Bayesian Projection Rating) for these players would have placed all four them as top 20 defenders in the SEC last year,” Miyakawa wrote on social media. “Kentucky hasn’t had more than 2 players in the top 20 of the SEC Defensive BPR since 2018-19, a year the team was a top 5 defense nationally.”

Miyakawa describes Defensive BPR as a stat that: reflects the defensive value a player brings to his team when he is on the court. Kentucky now has some of the best in that category.

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For context, the projected Defensive BPR for these players would have placed all four them as top 20 defenders in the SEC last year.

Kentucky hasn't had more than 2 players in the top 20 of the SEC Defensive BPR since 2018-19, a year the team was a top 5 defense nationally.
— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) April 30, 2024

Keep in mind that these are projections for the upcoming 2024-25 season. But all of Williams, Oweh, Butler, and Garrison have earned reputations as stout defenders throughout their respective college careers, which contributes to Miyakawa’s figures.

Williams was a three-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year winner at Drexel while Butler has a pair of MWC Defensive Player of the Year awards at San Diego State (2023, media; 2024, coaches). Oweh averaged 1.5 steals per game in 2023-24 for Oklahoma and ranked among the Big 12’s Top 20 players in terms of defensive rating. Garrison, who averaged just 22.7 minutes per game last season as a freshman for Oklahoma State, recorded 1.5 blocks per game with a block percentage of 6.6 — both top-five marks in the Big 12.

There’s no denying that Kentucky was a bad defensive team last season under John Calipari. Mark Pope is looking to fix that in a hurry.