Mikhail McLean names early standouts, takeaways from Kentucky's first practice of the summer

Day one of summer practice is in the books for the Kentucky Wildcats, the start of an eight-week run of eight hours per week — four with on-court instruction, four with strength training, conditioning and film. It’s where the foundation is built for Mark Pope entering a crucial third season in Lexington.

What do you need to know about the unofficial debut of this 2026-27 group? Assistant coach Mikhail McLean talked with the UK Sports Network shortly after things wrapped up at the Joe Craft Center to run through early standouts and takeaways as they begin their push for banner No. 9.

“Today was great. Guys really got after it,” McLean said. “We went early this morning at 7:30, did a little conditioning. The thing I was really encouraged with was how much energy our guys had. We had, like, seven guys, super vocal and encouraging one another. And then we came out to the practice court a couple hours later and guys got after it, they competed. 

“It was a lot of teaching, but the energy and the effort was tremendous today.”

What stood out on the hardwood on day one? Kentucky’s combination of size and depth with guys able to slide up and down playing multiple positions.

“I like the versatility. We have a lot of depth at every position,” he continued. “We have a lot of guys that can play multiple positions. We got a lot of length as well. Just being really excited for that, excited to see the jump that a lot of our returners are going to make, and just seeing a couple of our new guys come and make their mark.”

Among individual head-turners, the third-year assistant coach is a big fan of Kentucky’s starting point guard, Zoom Diallo. It’s a massive role that Lamont Butler owned and Jaland Lowe couldn’t due to injury, but the Washington transfer couldn’t have had a better first impression with the Wildcats.

PG1 is also QB1 in McLean’s eyes.

“I think Zoom — Zoom’s been my favorite so far,” he said. “Zoom’s come in with so much energy. He’s a quarterback. Everyone, when we recruited him, just talked about how much he leads and how he loves his guys. We had a couple of guys that were kind of struggling in their sprints, they’re trying to throw up and all of that stuff. Zoom pulled them to the side and said, ‘Hey, man, get back up here. We’ve got to run.’

“So it’s been really encouraging just having that guy do that for us this early.”

McLean also talked about Malachi Moreno’s return and leadership, as well as his own new gig as head coach of the Bahamian National Team. See it all for yourself below:

Day 1 of @KentuckyMBB Practice ✔️

We spoke with @Coach_McLean after practice for a @UK_HealthCare Practice Report 👇 pic.twitter.com/OLTKgUAgX1

— UK Sports Network (@UKSportsNetwork) June 15, 2026

If you want even more behind-the-scenes practice intel, KSR+ has got you covered with all of the early standouts and clarity on a pair of absences. Read that full report HERE.

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