Mark Pope missing out on star transfer forward Donnie Freeman has already more than made the rounds online, with fans and analysts piling on the Wildcats head coach in the hours that followed St. John's landing the widely lauded recruit. It's a textbook "whiff," as the kids say.
All the same, Coach Pope's job goes on. While Freeman is now off the board, all that means for the Kentucky staff is that it's time to find someone else; and with only two transfer pledges on the roster thus far, the hunt may soon be a matter of simply taking what you can get. But, at least for the time, Kentucky can still pick and choose, and the most obvious next man up is Washington State guard Jerone Morton.
Morton, who is set to visit Kentucky this weekend (per Jacob Polacheck), is a native of the bluegrass state. With the Cats having already secured their starting backcourt, Morton - a shoot-first combo guard - would seemingly be set to accompany Mason Williams off of Kentucky's bench.
Jerone Morton Provides Reasonable Depth
Of course, any Kentucky native will find favor with the Big Blue Nation. In Polacheck's post confirming the visit, he included a blurb from Morton's dad, who said, "We just love Kentucky, man. He was born and raised here. That’s been his lifetime dream to play at Kentucky." For the most diehard fans, that alone may be enough to give the dude a chance.
And while other fans' initial reactions may be ones of underwhelming distraction, as Kentucky remains without a single solid option at power forward (as a result of the Freeman miss), reliable depth is as important as anything else on a competitive, high-major team.
Kentucky struggled this past season because the roster lacked it. Morton, who shot a formidable 43.8%/38.7% split in his junior season, has all the tools you'd expect out of a solid second-unit guard.
If the spry guard and his folks love the big blue, and Kentucky could use his services, this is one you can't overthink. Big Blue Nation is desperate for a win in any capacity.
Kentucky Can't Overthink It
Even if it isn't an outlandish pickup, locking down a depth guard who would almost certainly be playing for the name on the front of his jersey when he comes to town seems like a no-brainer.
Haul in a Kentucky kid and restore some of the lost momentum in the transfer portal. It's slowly becoming a matter of paying what needs to be paid and filling out the team; Morton is a more than sensible means to that end.
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