Sad news:kentucky player died in the fire affected home together with family…
Mark Pope has not won an NCAA Tournament game. Last year at BYU, Pope was eliminated in the first round by Duquesne, who lacked agility, struggled on defense, and depended largely on three-point shooting.
It turns out that Pope’s BYU roster did not reflect his favored style of play. With access to a different caliber of elite recruits and high-quality transfers at Kentucky, he’s relied heavily on the defensive end of the court, pairing rangy shot-blockers like Oklahoma State’s Brandon Garrison and Drexel’s Amari Williams with elite perimeter defenders like San Diego State’s LaMont Butler, the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.
Defense was so heavily focused this offseason that the head coach who led the 14th most effective offense in the country according to Kenpom last season is still without a go-to scorer.
Andrew Carr, a 6-foot-10 stretch-forward who transferred to Kentucky from Wake Forest, averaged 13.5 points per game and shot 37.1% from three. Otega Oweh, a lithe 6-foot-5 slicing guard, averaged 11.4 points per game for Oklahoma last year. Koby Brea of Dayton may be the best outside shooter in the country, while Kerr Kriisa is an outstanding facilitator.
Mark Pope has recruited excellent secondary offensive components, but Kentucky lacks the primary shot creation required to compete for a National Championship. There isn’t one player on the team who is reliable.
Pope’s latest transfer portal target is the solution to that potentially catastrophic deficiency.
In his fourth season at North Florida, Chaz Lanier averaged 19.7 points a game while shooting 51% from the field and 44% from three. The 6-foot-4 guard has one remaining season of eligibility and currently, Kentucky is the front-runner to acquire his services.
He was arguably one of the most improved players in the entire country after scoring under five points a game in the 2022-23 season for the Ospreys and only starting eight games. While his shot volume increased as the team’s best player, so did his efficiency.
