Mark Pope provided the clearest picture yet on the status of his roster, and revealed why two players haven't seen the court just yet. He talked open about distinguishing between the plan for freshman Braydon Hawthorne and transfer Reece Potter.
“Reece is is committed right now to to redshirt. So we're expecting to redshirt Reece unless something changes, which always can happen,” Pope said. One only has to look back to last year to see exactly what can happen with injuries.
Braydon Hawthorne's situation is still a little murky
The situation for Braydon Hawthorne, however, remains fluid. “With BH, we're still we're still trying to feel the waters a little bit. So we'll I'll be cautious about him. I'm not going to burn it,” Pope said, indicating he won't waste Hawthorne's eligibility on spot minutes. So, if he is not going to be playing 15-20 minutes, why not take a year and get better.
If you are like me you thought the days of redshirting and getting better was over, but thankfully not. It takes a kid that is really self-aware to realize that by not playing now they will be better and play more later.
“You know, we're having kind of conversations regularly now about how we feel about that and what's best for him. But um it's it's an ongoing conversation.”
While Hawthorne may or may not play this year, Pope is incredibly high on his future, calling him a "sponge" who picks things up fast.
“I think his progression is going to be lightning speed,” Pope said. “All of a sudden he's going to step on the court and everyone's going to be like where where did he come from... I think that's actually the player he's going to be.”
That may happen sometime later this year, or it could be next year. One thing is for sure, Kentucky has a luxury it didn't have last year.
Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer. You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion