[Cactus Jack]

Things appear to be taking shape now. The picture should really start coming into focus in the next month with the portal closing and draft decisions looming.

Reading tea leaves, I'm guessing Jaxson Robinson is hoping to get drafted, but will end up at Kentucky if he returns to college. At the same time, the roster has tons of holes and it's probably known that Kentucky isn't going to be in a position to wait very long for his decision.


My best guess on the roster based on what we currently know:

PG/SG:
Impact lead guard (portal)
Jaxson Robinson?
Aiden Mahaney?

Complimentary guard (portal)
Elijah Hawkins?
Deivon Smith?

SG/SF:
Starter, at least 1 shooter (likely out of portal)
Koby Brea?/Andrej Stojakovic?
Richie Saunders (bench)

PF/C:
Great Osobor
Amari Williams
Stretch 4/5 (portal or otherwise)

Reserves:
PG: Travis Perry
SG: Collin Chandler


Thoughts:

Amari Williams is locked in and Great Osobor should be committing soon. Osobor is 6'8 and has a ceiling defensively. Because of that and the type of offensive skill sets that he and Williams have, I don't see any way that a "stretch" 4 or 5 wouldn’t also be added. Getting that adds lots of depth and versatility to what Pope is probably looking to try to do.

Ideally, Jaxson Robinson transfers in and fills the combo guard role. He is paired with someone like Mahaney, Javon Small, or James Blackmon. If Robinson stays in the draft, then getting at least one of the other names or a similarly talented and experienced guard is a must, but preferably you'd have two.

Getting vibes that Pop Isaacs isn't really the best fit for the big picture, but taking him or someone similar in a "best available" scenario may be necessary.


Richie Saunders seems like your quintessential 6th, 7th, or 8th man type. Good player that you are rooting for, but if he's starting and playing big minutes, here's to hoping we have a lot around him and similar talents ready to deploy off the bench.

Getting a Koby Brea or Andrej Stojakovic in could solve a few problems. At 6'6, they've got positional size for the 2 or 3 and provide the type of shooting that you'll need if Williams and Osobor are playing together. Even though they aren't strong defenders, it's still a medium floor, high ceiling player that would provide offense and depth that probably pushes Saunders into a more natural role coming off the bench.


Overlap in programs involved with targets should start to narrow choices soon. For instance, UConn is involved with Mahaney and Brea & UNC is involved with Brea and Stojakovic.


I don't think that Chandler or Perry will be ready for roles past maybe spot duty. Perry will need some time to acclimate to the speed and physicality of the college game. Chandler was away from the game for some time on his mission and will be rusty; if he's going to be playing a significant role, he's either further along than I'm thinking or it may be a long year.


With so many needs across so many spots, I don't think we've seen our last non-portal addition, whether that is an international prospect or an incoming freshman who decommited or reclassified.