An already fun night with the women’s team was followed by Mark Pope’s highly-anticipated first squad as the coach of Kentucky.

The introductions were similar to the women’s as they walked out with fans that won this experience through just buying tickets and being selected. These intros included some dance moves by the fan and their selected player, and this was another fun way they found to involve the fans during this event. 

As always, the men’s part started with the traditional layup lines but were divided with one side being the blue squad and the other being the white.

The White Team consisted of Ansley Almonor (#15), Otega Oweh (#00), Lamont Butler (#1), Amari Williams (#22), Collin Chandler (#5), Walker Horn (#21), and Zach Tow (#20).

The Blue Team consisted of Koby Brea (#4) , Jaxon Robinson (#2), Travis Perry (#11), Andrew Carr (#7), Brandon Garrison (#10) , Trent Noah (#9), Kerr Kriisa (#77), and Grant Darbyshire (#13).

Otega Oweh started things off with a quick nice drive to the bucket which was followed by a lot three’s, as expected. Early on in the scrimmage, Andrew Carr — the transfer from Wake Forest — really impressed the crowd with his ability to catch-and-shoot from deep, as well as, his aggressive approach in the paint.

During the first timeout it was tied 13-13 and the fast pace play wasn’t easy to keep up with, but was very fun to watch. This was broken up with an appearance from two players from the women’s squad, Georgia Amoore and Clara Strack. They had a dad and daughter duo participate in a blind folded free-throw contest which ended in a win by the daughter and Georgia. Seems like they were trying to mix it up throughout both scrimmages and while doing that it showed that this year is going to be all about “Kentucky Basketball” as a whole rather than just two separate teams, with both programs heading into this new era together. 

One thing that really stood out about the men’s scrimmage was that they had Coach Pope mic’d up on the overhead speaker for the entire arena to hear his in-game coaching analysis, which was really cool to hear. I enjoyed understanding how he talks through the in-game adjustments as the scrimmage progressed. 

As the game progressed it was evident that the Blue and White teams were very evenly matched and both brought the energy to the game. They could be found diving for every loose ball and never gave up on a single play. The defense and effort that these players played with was what really impressed me early on. The crowd really got into it when the the players hit the floor, as they should. You can tell that Mark Pope really emphasizes them giving 100% on every play no matter what the event is and that’s a nice change of scenery. I’m gonna expect the same style of play throughout this whole season and you should too.

From what was shown in the first half of the scrimmage, I would say this team is in pretty good hands when it comes to big men. Amari Williams and Andrew Carr both impressed me. Like I said before, Carr’s ability to shoot was his most impressive attribute and Amari brings that “dog” mentality and attacks the rim really well. Both are very well rounded and can do it all but each have their own skills that will really put this team in position to win a lot of the battles down low. 

In my opinion the two sleepers of this team so far are Otega Oweh and Ansley Almonor. They both played well and were in the right spots at the right time. This team’s depth is not anything new to this fan base, and I now feel for Coach Pope when it comes to having to choose who’s going to play and how much they will play, because this team has a bunch of sleepers that are just going to be waiting for their opportunity to shine this year, not just the two that I mentioned. If we remember correctly, too much depth is never an issue!

Halftime: Blue Team 38, White Team 37

During halftime they interviewed Trent Noah, Lamont Butler, and Andrew Carr. It gave another chance for Big Blue Nation to get to know these players instead of just waiting for the break to end. In the middle of these interviews they tried to their best to give away $10,000 to fans by doing a putting contest and a 3-point contest on the court. Both competitors were not able to complete the challenges but it was just another way that they tried to give back throughout the event.

The start of the second half was very similar to the first half. The teams quickly exchanged a couple baskets, including mostly three’s of course! The first half was the showcase of the Carr and Williams but Brandon Garrison showed that he has the ability to make some baskets as well during the second half. His mid-range shot really surprised me. 

As they did all night they had a couple competitions in the second half that allowed the women’s team and fans to get some spotlight. These were some of my favorite parts of the night and was something that really made this year’s Blue-White event stand out from the past ones. 

One guy that was very consistent all night and was making his open chances was Collin Chandler. His effort and three-point shot making ability were the things that stood out to me when watching him. He even threw down a couple of crazy dunks to go along with everything else displayed. He will be seeing the floor a lot more than people may think.

To end the men’s scrimmage, they took a page out of the TBT rule book. They ended it with an Elam Ending which gives a target score for a team to reach at the 8-minute mark. The score was set at 67 points. This made for a very exciting ending. It came down to the very end after Otega Oweh hit two free-throws to tie it and a nice couple defensive stops by both teams led to game-winning free-throws from Kentucky native, Travis Perry.

We sat with Mark Pope and Andrew Carr to get their comments after the scrimmage, which is now up on our YouTube channel.

The 2024-25 Blue-White scrimmage was one for the books and just the beginning of two exciting new eras of Kentucky Basketball. I’m super excited to see what the future holds for Mark Pope and Kenny Brooks.

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