Welcome in. If you don’t know who I am yet, my name is Tres Terrell and I’ve been slamming my fingers on this keyboard under the Cats Coverage name since 2020. My previous work goes back to 2017 and my fandom goes back to birth — just like most of you.

With that being said, I went to UK’s Pro Day event on Tuesday evening as they let media attend, and it was very rewarding to get to see this team in game-like action. It was mostly individual drills, team drills, then a pause and go five-on-five full-court run, but it was the most we’ve gotten so far so I’ll take it.

I wanted to jump on here and write about what I noticed from yesterday’s practice, and after sleeping on it, I’ve decided to write everything that comes to my mind about each player on the roster that was there. This will be more of a rapid-fire type of content, but I’m ready to document this so I can look back on it weeks into the season. Keep in mind, this is a very small sample size of evidence to go off of, and it’s just the first week of October. We’ve only had Media Day (no basketball) and Pro Day (limited basketball), but here we go.

Trent Noah: Trent looks great. It’s clear he’s been in the weight room this summer, adding on plenty of muscle. He looks really comfortable and as much of a contributor as ever. His confidence going into year two looks top notch and his play on the court backs it all up. The talk you’ve heard around the team this summer about him has been entirely true and he will make a huge offensive impact off the bench this season with no doubt in my mind. He was making about 8 out of every 10 three-point shots he took (wide open) during UK’s Pro Day. Even in five-on-five play his volume of making shots was the best on the team. His post-UK career will go far solely on being able to make the deep shots. He’s absolutely elite in that category.

Collin Chandler: Add Collin Chandler into the mix of seasoned guys within Pope’s system, quickly emerging as a leader to the younger guys and one that is oozing out more and more confidence with the ball his hands. Collin looks like he will be much more of a threat on the floor this season, a lot of what we got to see in the final few months of last season. I think he will get a lot of guard reps early on. I also believe he will be in that top-7 rotation when the roster gets shortened towards February, and his year two versus his year one will be polar opposites. Collin will be a solid guard for the program that will get overlooked by many opponents, and there won’t be a game this year that he couldn’t find 8+ points in.

Stick with me on this, but one of my non-basketball takeaways for CC is that he gives me vibes of someone who will be extremely famous one day, but not for basketball. And that’s not a knock on his basketball skills, I think he’s great. Do you know what I mean? One of those famous actors or social media influencers who becomes widely known but no one ever realized that they played a D1 college sport back in the day. We of course do, he’s really popular throughout this state, but in terms of the national audience, they definitively don’t know who “Collin Chandler” is. Coming into year two with his highlighted tips and being freshly married, I just get these vibes from being around of being early on someone who will make it big in the world one day, post college basketball. It’s hard to explain. But I feel it. Get around him and tell me you can’t sense that. Think of a young Paul Walker, right before Fast N’ Furious.

Brandon Garrison: I’m not entirely sold yet on him being the guy that you’d anchor your team around during the offseason. He and Otega Oweh of course, but Otega is definitely that guy. I actually thought Brandon would transfer out this summer but he decided to stay here. I am glad he did, let me be clear. He’s just good enough that you want him back if possible, but as a lock for one of your stars and also your starting center, I just didn’t see enough last year for me to be confident as everyone else in that. I think the plan might be more of ‘return an upperclassmen as you wait for JQ to heal’, but that’s just my speculation. I do think BG will be solid, but I don’t think he’s going to be a candidate for any all-conference awards. He does look like he has taken a step forward this summer but I’m just not sold yet on him being “the guy” with Otega. There are some other bigs on this team that I believe might make more of an impact early on. I talk about that later in this post.

Andrija Jelavic: Seems happy to be here, but is a little behind on the fundamental side of things. His overall coordination and dribbling is just a small step behind the rest of the team, but I think his length and shooting ability will make him playable in itself. Still a great add to the roster this offseason, but I think the level of play here in America is still higher at the college level than the European league was that he came from.

Kam Williams: Can shoot the lights out and I think that will be his main objective as a Wildcat. That and distributing the ball on offense while attacking the rim a few times a game. Kam is a shooter, plain and simple.

Jasper Johnson: On the same level as everyone on the team, has a great shot, and can really get up and down the floor. The thought this summer was that he started off slow and was needing more time to develop, but that didn’t look true on Tuesday. His quickness and smooth jump shot will earn 20+ minutes on the court this season I do believe. His defense is crafty and tight. Not your starting point guard level as of today, but will bring value to this team.

Denzel Aberdeen: I didn’t get a lot of looks at Aberdeen unfortunately, and when you’re in-person you miss a lot where you don’t have a TV showing every play in HD form, but in what limited reps I did catch of him specifically, they had him shooting from deep a lot and playing defense at the top of the perimeter most times. He excelled in both of those opportunities. I think his floor is very high and having a national championship winner in your locker room will pay dividends the entire season. Florida did not want to lose him this offseason, let that be clear.

Otega Oweh: Double O was sidelined (toe) but was in great spirits. Seems like this team has great chemistry and Otega is that sharpie-wrote leader from the start. He’ll be Kentucky’s best player by a mile, and next summer we will be debating if he’s a first rounder or a second rounder. Hold me to that.

Walker Horn: Great teammate. Has been for many years. I’ve enjoyed him having on the team the last few years. Walker just helps where need be, so my basketball takes for him are nonexistent. As for my non-basketball take, it’s: I don’t say this to be mean, but as a bald guy myself, it’s time to shave it off Mr. Horn. It’s time. That is coming from 100% love. You’ve got the beard and it will look just fine. Stop fighting it, brother.

Jaland Lowe: Super quick, a little small, but will be one heck of a distributor on offense. Like Lamont, he will get a lot of guys open by driving through the lane and kicking it out. I feel like Jaland won’t be much of a threat at the three unless wide open, but will make his money in the midrange shooting area. Will be the starting point guard to start the season, providing you the most ball security and the best ability of having a pass-first guard for a high volume shooting team, which this team will be just that. He won’t be the leading scorer often and will be complimented by many minutes from the guards behind him.

Jayden Quaintance: Wow. What a large specimen of a human being. And he’s only like 18 years old. He’s got the physical presence that passes the eye test and when he is back at 100% healthy, look out. He’ll be the biggest brute amongst the rest of the roster in the post, and will be a competitor for every rebound that comes his direction. I feel like he will be an Oscar Tshiebwe like presence on the glass, but with a higher vertical, way more speed, and way more offensive ability in finishing at the rim. He’s the guy that if you contest a rebound with him, you’re coming out with a shoulder to the jaw at worst. JQ will be a first round draft pick one day and also the a top-2 player on this team (when at full health), it just only depends on how long it takes for those two to come to light. Jayden has the highest ceiling on this team. I can’t wait to see it all put together.

Braydon Hawthorne: First off, I’ve never seen a teenager look so young, He truly looks like he’s 9 years old (in the face). He 6’8 and looks like he’s a half-decade away from being able to drive. I’ve never seen anything like it. But basketball wise, he is a great shooter and has the Kevin Durant body type where he’s extremely tall but plays like a guard. They have him listed as a Forward for now, which makes sense to me, but I think the idea of him redshirting this season was really smart. He needs to continue bulking up throuhgout the year because he is still just bones. I think the finished version of him when he leaves college will be a great product. He’s just early in his development right now.

Mouhamed Dioubate: Mo will definitely be one of the veteran leaders to this team. Brings Sweet 16 experience on multiple great Alabama teams to this roster, and was defintely one of the top SEC players from last season. His size will help him in the post, he’s not as tall as you’d wish he would be (6’7), but his grit and effort that he plays with will make up for all that. He brings the “scrappy” to the team. Mo is a very nice person to be around personality wise, but he will have some chest-to-chest face-offs in many moments with his opponents this year. Watch for it. I do also have to admit, I do not like the form on his jump shot. He shoots a decent percentage, but man his form is not pretty. That’s no disrespect, I am just being honest.

Malachi Moreno: Malachi will play immensely more than I think people expected he would the day that he committed. He’s shown great play on both sides of ball the entire summer and the staff has been raving about him since he arrived. He’s the tallest guy on the team, and at 250 lbs. he’s not going to get thrown around in the post, whatsoever. Outside of his length and size, he can score above the rim at will and has arguably the best jump shot out of all the bigs. Malachi has guard handles but has matured into his frame very well. I can’t wait to see how he puts it all together at the college level. I think he’ll start the season as BG’s backup, but I’m not sure yet if it will finish that way.

Reece Potter: Reece is the second tower of the team. At over seven feet, he will be a solid defender to mainly help improve this team in practice. I’m not sure how much he’ll play this year, if any, but he will be a Kentucky-grown piece to help glue this team into one while still having exceptional basketball skills to make a difference. He’ll be the last guy on the totem pole, but you’re better off with him than without.

Zach Tow: An overall great story on how he got this opportunity in the first place and he knows Kentucky Basketball just as much as the rest of us. It’s cool to see him, Reece Potter, Malachi Moreno, Jasper Johnson, and Trent Noah all on this team after having grown up in this state. Kentucky boys, just living the dream.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for your time. These were just my quick, not overanalyzed takeaways from the Pro Day practice and being up close where it’s hard to sometimes catch everything that goes on. I am overall excited about this team and what their success can be together. It feels like a very deep offensive team and I’m beyond eager for it to start.

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If not, see you at Big Blue Madness!