Ansley Almonor, a forward for Fairleigh Dickinson, committed to Kentucky on Thursday morning, making 11 scholarship players on Mark Pope’s inaugural UK squad. Almonor is a 6’7″, 219-pound forward with a career 3-point shooting percentage of 38.5 percent. Pope, a future senior from Spring Valley, next York, should be the best choice for the next UK coach if he wants to use a “small ball” 4 man.
In light of the bigger picture, Pope stated in a podcast interview with Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports this week that he hopes to have the first Wildcats lineup he coaches consist of 13 scholarship players, which is the NCAA maximum for men’s basketball. It makes sense to question if a head coach can keep a 13-man squad motivated and pleased in these impatient times. Pope, however, would rank among the coaches most suited to make effective use of a huge roster based on his historical performance.
