Man...I guess I didn't realize we could return 11. I know we won't, but still. Sheesh. Williams, Chandler, and Moreno are no-brainers. Beyond that would love to see Jelavich and Hawthorne, and would really like to see year two of Jasper. I'm take it or leave it with MoD. I like the role he plays now (which oddly enough, is no different than his Bama role), but does he? That's seven guys. If you don't get two absolute DUDES and a backup PG, we are going to be in this same cycle again. This roster was just so poorly built.
Poll - Who Do You Want Back Next Year? (Can only pick 5)
- Thread starter Farsight Clone
- Start date
Think the roster was always built with 2027 in mind honestly. 2026 has been a disappointment, but I still think you can return a big nucleus and go get one massive splash piece at PF, then plug specialists from the portal on the bench and be a contender next year.
The five I picked are the highest ones picked at the moment. Jelly, Chandler, Hawthorne, Moreno, Williams.
I expect CC, Kam, Braydon to all be back. Lowe as well assuming staff wants him to still be lead guard. I think Jelly will probably be back as well as Noah. Think JJ and Mo will at least explore other options. Think MM will return unless some pro team lets him know they will take him in 1st round. Not as down on BG as some but ok if he leaves.
If you put Noah in your five, make your case. If he is your cousin or son or grandson, I get it, but you are still damn selfish. 
You copied my picks. Just go ahead and admit it.
I dont hate everyone on the team enough! Dammit, we’re IU
I am not on self unalive watch because the season turned out mediocre. Dammit, we’re IU.
Wins still make me happier than losses. Dammit, we’re IU!!!
On topic, I picked Chandler, Moreno, Kam, Hawthorne and JJ.
JJ could be easily swapped with Mo or Jelly. I would prefer to move on from Lowe and BG, but would still welcome them back. I don’t want to chase a Kentucky kid off, but Noah is a deep rotation piece only. I know that will upset some Bill Joe Wildcats out there, but it’s true.
"Dammit, we're IU" needs to be a thing. I'll probably steal it.
Lose by 9 on the road against a KenPom top 5 team..."Dammit, we're IU"
Love it...
As for the topics, I completely agree. I can take Noah or leave him --- I don't care about the KY boy stuff at all.
Chandler(next year's likely leading scorer)
Moreno(possible lottery pick)
Kam(two-way player and a high ceiling)
Dioubate(SEC level toughness. hes been underutlised here imo)
I could maybe be swayed on 1 of Johnson/Hawthorne
The rest. The rest of the country can have them.
PS. BG. GTFOH. Dont like his attitude or effort. Just go tf away.
Moreno(possible lottery pick)
Kam(two-way player and a high ceiling)
Dioubate(SEC level toughness. hes been underutlised here imo)
I could maybe be swayed on 1 of Johnson/Hawthorne
The rest. The rest of the country can have them.
PS. BG. GTFOH. Dont like his attitude or effort. Just go tf away.
Williams
Chandler
Jelavic
Hawthorne
Moreno
Really would like to see them all back.
Why does BG remind me of Daniel Orton?
Chandler
Jelavic
Hawthorne
Moreno
Really would like to see them all back.
Why does BG remind me of Daniel Orton?
Both fringe McDonald's All-American bigs whose greatest contribution to the game was extracurricular. Both guys wanted all the smoke, all the time. Both were devoid of top-shelf basketball IQ. Both had great promise, but only showed flashes of their potential. Both are rim-runner, defensive centers. That said, Orton was better --- I do see why you connected mental dots there.
Dude...I'm not sure I agree there. Who is your PG? Jasper nor Lowe are capable of being a PG on a contender. I know people still buy the crap we were sold on him, but he can't be the PG and one of your best players on a good SEC team. Too many deficiencies. Hard to lose your two best players off of a mid team, return a large portion of said mid team, and only add one "massive splash piece". There's a reason this team is what it is. I just think the talent upgrade, on the high end, needs to be a bit steeper for this team to contend.
Orton far more skilled. BG with the better motor (and mouth) probably. Neither a difference maker on a good team.
It doesn't hurt my feelings if you disagree. I'll say -- I've watched multiple full games of Jaland Lowe at Pitt and I believe in him. Others may not agree --- Jeff Goodman watched multiple games of him and disagrees with me. That said, a lot of our fans didn't and base everything on what we saw at Kentucky --- a shell of the player we added. I'm not married to the idea of Lowe as I think we likely move in another direction, but I'll always be honest and candid. I'd love to have him back and I believe we are unlikely to find a better PG than him in the portal this year.
Chandler, Kam, Moreno, Hawthorne, Jelavic, Jasper, and Mo are all guys I would want back. I would take Lowe back if he agreed to come off the bench. He would be a great back up point guard. Coming off the bench, leading the second team , and recovering that shoulder for his senior by not taking on a big load would be awesome. If he doesn’t agree to that, let Lowe walk. Retention is huge and has been a big reason why UCONN and Florida have been so great these last 4 years.
Get a stud point guard and a tyran stokes/oweh type portal piece and you have a team who can make a final four.
Get a stud point guard and a tyran stokes/oweh type portal piece and you have a team who can make a final four.
That’s the issue. No way that dude gives it everything he’s got. You can’t be that big, athletic, tall and talented and put up production like he does. We have a large sample size to draw conclusions from. Yes, he’s talented. We’ve all seen the flashes. You don’t become a HS AA without having some talent. Just seems like he can’t contribute unless he’s playing against smaller players.
It almost seems like he hasn’t seriously worked on his game the entire time he’s been at UK. It’s puzzling, because I think he hasn’t seriously worked a ton of potential and could be a damn good college big. It is one of the oddest situations player development wise I can ever remember here. It’s wild.
I'd love to have him back too, as a backup to another dog like Aberdeen. If he's not going to be efficient offensively, and he's far from it, then he needs to be darned good defensively, which he isn't. If I've got an offensively inefficient PG, I need a dog on defense. Think Boogie Fland type.
BINGO! THANK YOU! Excellent post and very well thought out. I think you’re exactly right. I agree wholeheartedly.
This is also good from the perspective that, it’s just simply much easier to land a mere couple guys, instead of being in a position where you desperately need 5/6 contributing players and 10 players total. That’s crazy, we got 10 new players this season! If we don’t get that elite freshman that everyone is clamoring for, we could get a couple top players from the portal. At least those guys would have high major D1 experience. JMO.
There are so many better players out there than Jelavic, could he be an okay end of bench guy? Maybe but no need to prioritize him at all.
That's why the glass is half full instead of half empty. We need to add pieces, not rebuild. Pope did that. Some people just can't see the forest for the trees.
Moreno, Williams, Chandler, Jelavic, and Hawthorne.
Which one of you yella-bellied sonsab!tches voted Garrison?
Moreno
Chandler
Williams
Jelly
Hawthorne
That's in order as well. I think the first 3, regardless of order, is pretty concrete for everyone. The 4th and 5th picks is where it gets picky. I don't care of Jasper Johnson at all as he focuses on his shots first second and third when he's in the game and he will never physically be able to handle elite D1 play with that frail body. Mo D is more than welcome to stay but he left Alabama to seek a more prominent role but on a true CMP team, hes a role player. If thats okay and he takes the pay cut and minute drop, hes more than welcome to stay. Won't happen though. Jelly has big potential and is scratching the surface of what he can be as a sophomore next year and Hawthorne has a bright future off measurable alone worth investing up to 4 more years in. Noah...I love you, but this is out of your league. Thank you for the 2 years of giving 110% on the glass and in the lockeroom.
Moreno
Chandler
Williams
Jelly
Hawthorne
That's in order as well. I think the first 3, regardless of order, is pretty concrete for everyone. The 4th and 5th picks is where it gets picky. I don't care of Jasper Johnson at all as he focuses on his shots first second and third when he's in the game and he will never physically be able to handle elite D1 play with that frail body. Mo D is more than welcome to stay but he left Alabama to seek a more prominent role but on a true CMP team, hes a role player. If thats okay and he takes the pay cut and minute drop, hes more than welcome to stay. Won't happen though. Jelly has big potential and is scratching the surface of what he can be as a sophomore next year and Hawthorne has a bright future off measurable alone worth investing up to 4 more years in. Noah...I love you, but this is out of your league. Thank you for the 2 years of giving 110% on the glass and in the lockeroom.
We need to be as tall/long, athletic with the best shooters as possible. So, that means Chandler, Moreno, Williams, Hawthorne. Everyone else is a non-priority.
There's a very clear top 3
Chandler
Kam
Moreno
Behind them, there's a pretty clear 4th and 5th option in Jelavic and Hawthorne. I voted for the top 3 and Jelavic.
I've got Jasper as my 5th. I at times see flashes that make me think of Philon/Pettiford. I think he's a year behind them in terms of career arc, as they were both more consistent contributors as freshmen. I think he takes a big step forward next year, and in his 3rd season, he'll be a flat out star.
Hawthorne has major upside. Will he be able to contribute next season? Maybe. I'll be fine with him too. But we've seen flashes of Jelavic being really good at times. And if I've got Kam, Moreno, and Jelavic returning, I'd want a guard instead of Hawthorne.
I'd be fine with Lowe back as he gives us a floor at PG. But there's too many questions to rely on him. Is the shoulder injury behind us? Is he going to be able to play within the system? At times, no one else was doing anything, so it felt like he had to create. But after he went away for good, the ball has moved much, much better.
I like Dioubate a lot as player, and he was someone I really wanted. He just struggles. If we can get a team of 4 shooters around him at all times, he can really thrive on the inside.
Chandler
Kam
Moreno
Behind them, there's a pretty clear 4th and 5th option in Jelavic and Hawthorne. I voted for the top 3 and Jelavic.
I've got Jasper as my 5th. I at times see flashes that make me think of Philon/Pettiford. I think he's a year behind them in terms of career arc, as they were both more consistent contributors as freshmen. I think he takes a big step forward next year, and in his 3rd season, he'll be a flat out star.
Hawthorne has major upside. Will he be able to contribute next season? Maybe. I'll be fine with him too. But we've seen flashes of Jelavic being really good at times. And if I've got Kam, Moreno, and Jelavic returning, I'd want a guard instead of Hawthorne.
I'd be fine with Lowe back as he gives us a floor at PG. But there's too many questions to rely on him. Is the shoulder injury behind us? Is he going to be able to play within the system? At times, no one else was doing anything, so it felt like he had to create. But after he went away for good, the ball has moved much, much better.
I like Dioubate a lot as player, and he was someone I really wanted. He just struggles. If we can get a team of 4 shooters around him at all times, he can really thrive on the inside.
He hasn’t been a world beater this year but he’s a 6’11” stretch four with a high ceiling and two years of eligibility left. He’s a priority. Not the top one but he is one.
Malachi Moreno is the only starter on that list. It doesn't matter who else comes back from that list.
So Collin Chandler, who shot 55% from three and averaged over 15ppg in the entire month of February, isn't starter material? I'm sorry man, but that's a terrible take. He's probably going to be all-conference next year at minimum.
I picked CC, Kam, MM, Mo and Lowe. They are the five best players IMO. In reality, I would bring back every kid we have, provided they are priced accordingly. CC and MM will require more NIL, everyone else deserves less IMO
He's poor on defense and mainly a spot up shooter. He needs to be coming off the bench if you are a top 10 team. if he is in your starting lineup you aren't competing for championships. If anything you are fringe top 25.
He's certainly not a perfect defender. He does a poor job making the correct reads on screens, but he's been far better in that regard lately. His defensive rating (measure of points allowed per 100 possessions) has him about middle of the pack on this team. He enjoys the challenge of on-ball defense and has shown more improvement than you're giving credit for. You must have something against the guy -- there's no rational way of concluding he isn't starter quality. It's simply a bad take.
He doesn't stretch the floor, he's not a great shooter, not a great scorer, turns the ball over/gets stripped, isn't a great rim protector, isn't physical, etc. There are many, many players much better than Jelavic and keeping him and not prioritizing a better player will just result in Pope/Kentucky continuing to get lost in substitution patterns of mediocre role players.
This is also why I think the $22 Million might be legit, but not in the sense that we paid $22 Million for this year's roster. I think we did commit to $22 Million over 2 years with this roster (with several guys on 2 year NIL deals). And obviously if they transfer, we don't owe them for year 2.
Everyone forgets about Sayan Kieta from overseas. I think he is our Center target and will remain that until portal time. I think Oweh's spot is open to Stokes if he wants it (and Pope's shorter rotation and heavy minutes use of Oweh recently looks better than the previous "come play 25 minutes in a system" pitch from last fall). I really think that is plan 1A and 1B, with Holt and Collins as good gets if you can get either, but not primary targets. Especially if you were to know Lowe, Chandler, and Johnson are returning. If Pope goes HS recruit o-fer, but was to return everyone with eligibility left, he's only got a few spots left to fill, and can put a full court press with the promise of big NIL and tons of playing time on getting a stud to play the 3, then he just needs a backup PG willing to be a backup, and a backup Center, willing to be a backup. It won't keep fans happy (unless it leads to wins, then they'll love it, but they'll hate it at first), but it appears like that is what is happening.