Random tidbits from the Kentucky MBB player profile pages

Monday was the official start of summer practices for Kentucky men’s basketball. Furman transfer Alex Wilkins already gave us his thoughts from day one, too. We also learned of seven new non-conference opponents for the 2026-27 season on Monday. It was a busy morning. Lost in the shuffle was the program updating its roster page for Mark Pope‘s third season as head coach in Lexington.

With the roster page update came new player headshots for all 14 Wildcats currently on board. Tucked inside each player profile page was the usual background information: performance in previous college seasons, what they did in high school, etc. It’s mostly just a recap of their basketball careers to this point.

But each player also has a “personal” section at the bottom of their pages. There are tidbits of information on nearly every player that you might not have already known. From nicknames to basketball icks to other random notes, here are some that stood out above the rest.

• Sr. G, Jerone Morton: Dunked for the first time in eighth grade (a common theme for these super athletes). His most memorable moment as a basketball player was winning the state championship in Rupp Arena while at George Rogers Clark. I was there for that — it was pretty darn memorable.
• RS. Fr. F, Braydon Hawthorne: If he could have one superpower, it would be teleportation. He also says one of his side talents is painting. Now we need to see his latest piece of art.
• Jr. G, Kam Williams: He’s interested in mental health therapy.
• Jr. G, Zoom “Vazoumana” Diallo: Dream endorsement deal is — obviously — with Zoom. His favorite former Kentucky player is — also obviously — Hamidou Diallo. His basketball ick is wearing basketball shoes outside the gym.
• So. G, Alex Wilkins: Fittingly, the new Lexingtonian’s nickname is “Lex”. That’ll be easy to remember. Wilkins also wears the same undershirts all season long.
• Grad Student C, Franck Kepnang: He might have the the most interesting player page of the newcomers. Kepnang earned his bachelor’s degree in geographic data science and a master’s in information systems, specializing in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity while at Washington. He’s a smart cookie. During his younger days, he was big into ultimate frisbee and tennis. He chose his jersey number (#11) because he strives to be the top one percent of the top one percent. I’m already a fan.
• Sr. F, Milan Momcilovic: His nicknames are apparently MoneyMil and Serbian Sniper. Not bad. But we know the Big Blue Nation will come up with a Kentucky-themed nickname sooner rather than later.
• Fr. G, Zyon Hawthorne: His basketball ick is someone walking in the gym and taking a three as their first shot. Guilty!
• F, Ousmane N’Diaye: His basketball ick is black socks. I agree with him there. Also of note, N’Diaye is the lone member on the roster page without a class designation. It’s yet to be determined by the NCAA if he’ll be considered a freshman, sophomore, junior, etc.

You can read the full player profiles here. Can it be basketball season now?