The start of this 2025-2026 season has not been ideal for the Kentucky men’s basketball team.
I heard Kentucky used $22 in NIL money to acquire the likes of Pittsburgh’s Jaland Lowe (currently dealing with a potential season-ending shoulder injury) and Arizona State’s Jayden Quaintance (recovering from a torn ACL), but injuries are unfortunately a part of the game and out of the team’s control.
However, I heard they also used that money to enhance their roster for this season by adding players such as Florida’s Denzel Aberdeen, Tulane’s Kam Williams, and Alabama’s Mouhamed Dioubate.
Yes, they’re only five games into the season, and it’s a long year where anything can happen.
So far, however, it doesn’t seem like all that money that was supposedly invested to bolster the roster has made a significant difference.
Kentucky has been throttled by the only two good teams they have played this year.
They lost 96-88 at Louisville on Nov. 11, (then ranked 12th but now ranked sixth) but the Wildcats trailed by 18 at one point in the first half and were even down 20 almost midway through the second half.
Then, on Tuesday in the Champions Classic against 17th-ranked Michigan State inside New York City’s Madison Square Garden, the Wildcats were again pummeled 83-66 as they trailed the Spartans 44-27 at the break before being behind 80-56 late in that contest.
Kentucky’s only three wins this year are against Nicholls, Valparaiso, and Eastern Illinois.
Therefore, it begs to be asked: Can the Wildcats beat the good teams on this season’s schedule?
I have confidence in second-year head coach Mark Pope. He only had four weeks or so to put together a roster before last season, and the Wildcats ended up advancing to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament.
Last year, Kentucky scored eight wins against teams ranked in the top 25. That included victories against eventual national champion Florida as well as Duke, Gonzaga, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Missouri, and Tennessee twice.
But this year’s team is different than last year’s.
Early on in this new campaign, there seems to have been some chemistry issues with this squad.
Case in point: ESPN’s Kris Budden reported that, during the game against Michigan State Tuesday, players were “barking at each other” in the timeout down 14, which got Pope to step in and tell them to get on the same page.
Will Kentucky’s players put aside their differences, learn to come together as one and gel with the best interests of the team and their long-term chances in mind?
I think the coach is up to the task of righting the ship. As far as the players, that remains to be seen.
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