Koby Brea is excited to play in Pope’s system and loves how close this team is already
“It’s been going extremely amazing, you know, like, we all love each other, and we’re one big family, and, you know, I’m super excited.”
The Kentucky Wildcats are once again rolling out an entirely new roster this season, but it will look vastly different from the past.
Over the last 15 seasons, we have followed the same trend of elite freshman talent being the main contributors, and now, with John Calipari in Arkansas and Mark Pope back in Lexington, this coming season’s roster is filled with veterans.
One of those talented college basketball veterans is Dayton transfer sharpshooter Koby Brea.
The top 3-point shooter in all the game last season, Brea had his choice of blue-blood programs when it came to his transfer destination. Even with UCONN, Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and others recruiting him to be their go-to shooter, he ultimately decided Lexington was the place for him.
Brea pointed to that reason when talking with local media recently.
“That was the biggest draw for me. I was probably coming here just to see how perfect the system was for me,” said Brea. “Coach Pope did a great job of explaining to me where I can excel in the offense, the hit system in general, and the defensive system as well.”
Brea is known as a lights-out shooter, but he hopes to showcase his full skill set and expand his game in Pope’s offense.
“I think I’ve been labeled as a shooter because of what I did in previous years, but I’m trying to expand off of that a little bit and just become a better all-around player for myself and for my teammates,” Brea said.
Brea also pointed out that UK was his dream school growing up in New York, especially as a Dominican who got to watch Karl-Anthony Towns lead the Cats to the Final Four.
“It has always been a dream of mine to come here since I was little,” said Brea. “Karl Towns played here. He was a Dominican as well. He wasn’t too far from me. He was in New Jersey.
“Devin Booker is my favorite player. Just to be in this environment with so many greats and every day you walk in, the first thing you see in that gym is those banners, and as a player, that’s enough motivation right there.”
Kentucky fans will be excited to hear that Brea and the rest of the Wildcats have already developed a strong relationship with each other, something that will make a major impact on the court.
“It’s been going extremely amazing, you know, like, we all love each other, and we’re one big family, and, you know, I’m super excited,” said Brea. “I think we’re meshing really, really well. I think the system that coach has in place for us, it really helps us, you know, kind of create a bond faster than usual, just because, you know, we got to play off each other and really got to learn how to read each other’s minds and stuff like that. So the time that we spend off the court helps us so much on the court.”
While the Cats are back home for summer break, Brea will be back in action very soon when he takes part in Damian Lillard’s Formula Zero Elite Camp. Brea has been selected as one of 20 college counselors to attend camp
Also scoring an invite was former Kentucky forward Aaron Bradshaw, who is now at Ohio State.
Brea could potentially take on a recruiting role at the event, as current Kentucky targets Jasper Johnson, Acaden Lewis, Darryn Peterson, Mikel Brown Jr., and Tounde Yessoufou are among the high school players attending.
The Wildcats are going to look much different this season. Not just in the type of players but in the style of play as well. Mark Pope is bringing one of college basketball’s most unique offenses to Lexington, and Brea should fit into it perfectly.
Going to be fun to watch.
