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BB: summer recruiting and Trent Noah updates

Artlaibesghost

Artlaibesghost

All-Conference
Nov 30, 2022
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A long time ago KY used to have many players who stayed here 4 years steadily improving and becoming very good players after struggling early. Darius Miller was one, Derrick Hoard another. I could name dozens.
Many here always cried during Cal era that that didn't happen anymore. Well now you have a guy trying to do just that and mostly he gets trashed by fan base. Noah may not improve this year, but he very well might. I'm willing to let our COACH decide if he has rather than a know nothing peanut gallery.
 
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Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
42,676
64,995
113
tls said:
He is a very good positional defender. He guarded Nate Ament in the game at Knoxville last year and more than held his own. Of course, he's white and that bothers some folks on here.
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He got better last year on defense but still struggles. Teams go at him one-on-one when he is in the game.
 
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Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
42,676
64,995
113
Major_Tom said:
This formula didn’t work last year. In fact he seemed nervous and pressing. But hey, I’ll be thrilled to be wrong.
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You present a spurious correlation. There is no evidence that Pope speaking well of him put more pressure on him last year. Lowe going down and Lewis bolting were probably the biggest factors in doing harm to Noah’s game last year, not comments made in the off and pre seasons.
 
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Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
42,676
64,995
113
Key parts off the bench are key parts for successful teams.

Money is one aspect of recruiting today and not the only aspect. Closing is not defined by the money. It rarely will be. It is not in the business world and is certainly not in college. And, no poster here knows what money is being tossed in negotiations. We have only the anonymous sourced info that we gobble up and take as gospel.
 
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bnewt5

Senior
Feb 17, 2026
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Smeegs said:
We heard the EXACT SAME noise about Noah from Pope last off season. How he never missed, how he’d gotten in incredible physical shape, how folks were amazed at his improvement, etc.

And then the season began and it turned out he was not any better at all. I think I’m gonna decline to fall for the hype this time.
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Every summer, same old lies about how great someone is playing and when season starts, same old flop
 
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bnewt5

Senior
Feb 17, 2026
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megablue said:
Hopefully, Noah has improved and is both stronger and quicker. When he receives playing time, he simply needs to let the game come to him, but needs to confidently take the shots when he's open for them. I hope this will be his best shooting year as a Wildcat. I can see him with a 40% rate from three on the season ...
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Maybe stronger but no quicker
Almost impossible to improve quickness
 
The Ganner

The Ganner

Senior
Nov 21, 2009
367
959
93
Artlaibesghost said:
A long time ago KY used to have many players who stayed here 4 years steadily improving and becoming very good players after struggling early. Darius Miller was one, Derrick Hoard another. I could name dozens.
Many here always cried during Cal era that that didn't happen anymore. Well now you have a guy trying to do just that and mostly he gets trashed by fan base. Noah may not improve this year, but he very well might. I'm willing to let our COACH decide if he has rather than a know nothing peanut gallery.
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Darius Miller was a starter on a 35-3 team as a sophomore. Hord was a starter on a 22-6 team as a sophomore. Trent Noah was unplayable as a sophomore. I hope he takes the step this year we were told he was taking last year. But it's understandable to be skeptical when we heard the same stuff last summer. Noah is more in the Dom Hawkins/Derek Willis range than he is the Darius range.
 
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UKWildcats1987

Heisman
Sep 9, 2021
20,144
35,553
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o_edward49 said:
i disagree i think he will play quiet a bit and with the floor spacing opened up he will be very productive. He is also a better defender than given credit for, and a very aggressive rebounder for his size
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Then we are screwed and another season losing double digit games and nothing that matters. Yay.
 
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UKSanders

Senior
Aug 27, 2007
388
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Smeegs said:
We heard the EXACT SAME noise about Noah from Pope last off season. How he never missed, how he’d gotten in incredible physical shape, how folks were amazed at his improvement, etc.

And then the season began and it turned out he was not any better at all. I think I’m gonna decline to fall for the hype this time.
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Skyguyb27 said:
Trent lacks athleticism for him to take the next step. He is who he is at this point. I hope he is lethal from the 3 but we heard the same thing last summer.
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I'm really hoping that this offseason he has shed a few pounds and improved his lateral quickness a significant amount. He will never be elite (or even significantly above average) athletically, so his on ball defense will still be limited, and he won't ever be a creator off the dribble.

However, he has good court awareness which can help with "quickness" when it comes to team defense. For example, if he sees the play develop way earlier than another player who is more athletic, they would still be rotating into help about the same time b/c Trent would have a head start by seeing it earlier.

The biggest key for him is making perimeter shots... if he can do that against all levels of competition, he can be on the court for spurts. If he cannot, his limited athleticism and lack of creating for others off the bounce should keep him off the court.

So, here's to hoping he can do that. He doesn't have to be a superstar, but he can be a contributor.
 
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Smeegs

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2025
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Artlaibesghost said:
A long time ago KY used to have many players who stayed here 4 years steadily improving and becoming very good players after struggling early. Darius Miller was one, Derrick Hoard another.
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I recall Derrick Hord actually had a disappointing senior season, taking big drops in nearly every statistical category from the prior year. And Miller was also more productive as a junior than a senior. So those aren’t exactly the best examples for your point.
 
J

JonathanW2

Senior
Aug 6, 2025
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I like Noah. Like how hard he plays, like the form on his shot. But there are limitations. And I think he could potentially be deserving of minutes. But it may come down to a numbers game, where we have 10-11-12 guys deserving of minutes, but there are only 200 to spread around so might only be 8-9-10 guys getting minutes, meaning there could be 1-3 deserving who just don't play much.
 
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Bowfreak.

All-Conference
Mar 26, 2009
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Give Noah a chance. He could be a solid contributor this year. He could be who he was last year. Let it play out. In the past we didn't expect anything from freshmen unless they were generational. Sophomore season you hoped to see the light come on a bit but there was no guarantee. You hoped that by year 3 they can contribute. If he does this year it will be a major boost to our team. If he were someone who killed it from day one he would already be in the league.
 
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megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
16,255
16,759
113
I'm
bnewt5 said:
Maybe stronger but no quicker
Almost impossible to improve quickness
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There are stance, first-step, lateral agility and overall agility drills that can help improve quickness.
These drills have to be a point of focus and emphasis to achieve results. Hopefully, the staff are employing these drills for the entire team. I can definitely agree that improvement might not be drastic, but it can be noticeable and breed confidence.
 
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Major_Tom

Sophomore
Apr 16, 2010
892
158
36
Beatle Bum said:
You present a spurious correlation. There is no evidence that Pope speaking well of him put more pressure on him last year. Lowe going down and Lewis bolting were probably the biggest factors in doing harm to Noah’s game last year, not comments made in the off and pre seasons.
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I agree that it’s not exactly clear and honing in on causes isn’t productive. Still, from this fan’s perspective I’d rather our staff be less hyperbolic. That’s my opinion.
 
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Son_Of_Saul

Son_Of_Saul

Hall of Famer
Dec 7, 2007
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Winston Wolf said:
This is just chum for the Bennie’s. He will never be as good as you want him to be.
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It looks like the coaching staff hasn't learned their lesson about hyping up players or the team and creating ridiculous expectations from fans. I'm concerned that they're way too cocky. Pope's beach picture after paying $6.5 million for Milan; making excuses for why Calipari's last four years were worse than Pope's first two years; the constant coach speak about injuries last year and how they picked the right players (and then letting those "right players" like Lowe, Mo D, Garrison, Chandler, Jelly, etc. walk).

I want to see what he does with a completely healthy roster. I'd be okay with year #4 if he finished something like 25-10, top 3 SEC, Sweet Sixteen, and follows that up by bringing everyone back and adding Rosser.

If he loses a bunch of potential returners, can't finish top 3 in the SEC, and fails to land a star high school player, I think he should find another job.
 
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warrior-cat

warrior-cat

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Oct 22, 2004
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ComebackCats98 said:
I’ve watched Noah take over major high school games and score 40+ points in person like Reed Sheppard did in high school. The talent and shooting ability is there. I also think he’s a very solid rebounder for his size. I don’t think his strength is creating his own shot. However, I think having guys like Diallo and Wilkins who can create will help open him up a lot.
He struggled to shoot last year, but who was going to create offensively? Aberdeen was forced into the PG role and did reasonably well. Jasper Johnson isn’t a creator and neither was Chandler. I know it’s popular for some to bash the local guy who wanted to be here, but I think he’s very capable of having a Derek Willis like impact.
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If his shooting percentage increases this year with his hard nosed rebounding and hustle he will contribute to the team but from the bench as a sub. Still, it would give him more playing time and who knows, maybe motivate him for more.
 
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warrior-cat

warrior-cat

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bigblueinsanity (the real) said:
Pope is playing to the audience. He knows what to say. I love Noah but if he is a key to next season we are in trouble.

Also I want to see Mo Williams actually close on someone before he posts something like this. Being the highest bidder isnt closing.
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Key to next season? No, cog in the wheel would be a better description if his shooting has improved.
 
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warrior-cat

warrior-cat

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bnewt5 said:
Maybe stronger but no quicker
Almost impossible to improve quickness.
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Almost but not impossible. There are ways to improve quickness through quick twitch fiber/muscle development but that takes a lot of time and work both physically and mentally. Also, foods that enhance that, but what young person is going all in on the effort required for that. Most that are quick are born with the ability and a few have developed it over years of training.
 
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bnewt5

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Smeegs said:
I recall Derrick Hord actually had a disappointing senior season, taking big drops in nearly every statistical category from the prior year. And Miller was also more productive as a junior than a senior. So those aren’t exactly the best examples for your point.
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Hord was bad his senior year
 
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bnewt5

Senior
Feb 17, 2026
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Bowfreak. said:
Give Noah a chance. He could be a solid contributor this year. He could be who he was last year. Let it play out. In the past we didn't expect anything from freshmen unless they were generational. Sophomore season you hoped to see the light come on a bit but there was no guarantee. You hoped that by year 3 they can contribute. If he does this year it will be a major boost to our team. If he were someone who killed it from day one he would already be in the league.
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If noah is a major contributor, be like to be 500 this year
 
Vek96

Vek96

All-American
Jul 4, 2025
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Major_Tom said:
Yes, let’s put more pressure on Trent Noah. Wish the staff would chill with this narrative. Let Trent be Trent.
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I totally agree. Why do this? How about just saying nothing and hopefully Trent actually surprises this season. It seemed like he missed his last 20 threes last season.
 
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paulcalhoun_rivals397471

paulcalhoun_rivals397471

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Aug 23, 2024
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bnewt5 said:
Hord was bad his senior year
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He played considerably less minutes and had considerably less shot attempts but it was his best percentages at UK shooting 50.2% from the field and 82.3% at the line. The rest of his per 40 numbers were pretty similar to his big junior season. He mainly just got to play a lot less his senior year.

www.sports-reference.com

Derrick Hord College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Derrick Hord - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
www.sports-reference.com www.sports-reference.com
 
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