This offseason, yet again, Mark Pope did some job assembling a roster. ESPN has Kentucky at No. 10 in its latest rankings — a loaded perimeter, revamped frontcourt, and defense considered- Jeff Borzello has his hopes up. But has the head coach really got it all right?

Mark Pope had a rocky start to the offseason to begin with. Six of his players from his first Sweet 16 roster had no eligibility remaining. Then Kerr Keriisa announced he was looking for a new home while Acaden Lewis decommitted. Pope fell short a few times, too, in the arms race that was transfer recruiting. But he got up, brushed it all off, and put that reported $10 million budget to good use– winning pedigree from a power conference or under-the-radar talent, Pope scoured them all.

Now, he is left with a roster a little too good.

Jeff Goodman posed the question on the Field Of 68: After Dark podcast, “The biggest question mark is like, who’s going to be cut out here? Who’s going to be cut out, minutes-wise? They’ve got so many dudes in the perimeter right now. Even with the kid Perry leaving, I mean, look at it: Jaylen Low, Oweh, Kam Williams, Denzel Aberdine, Colin Chandler, Jasper Johnson, and Trent Noah. That is a lot of dudes to keep happy.” That’s the side effect of having so many top-class stars in your squad– they’ll have their set of demands and expectations.

Lamar Wilkerson, for one, another sharpshooter Pope was eyeing, ended up committing to Indiana. His reason? “I didn’t want to go to Kentucky and just be another guy,”

Pope is already counting on his returning players — Brandon Garrison, Chandler, and Noah — to take the leap. “I think it’s a key to big success,” he says, speaking of the roster continuity. Fair enough, given the familiarity of terminologies and game plays. But the coach has got to look at the talent he has accumulated. Alabama’s Mo Dioubate is coming off an Elite Eight season and a Final Four prior to that. The championship gleam might not even have worn off of Florida’s Denzel Aberdeen.

If you had dismissed Tulane guard Kam Williams, think again. The former Green Wave shot 48.5% from the field and 41.2% from three in his freshman year. Jaland Lowe will be another battling to make his mark on the shooting front, averaging 38% from the field.

Then for Pope’s returnees, we have Chandler who layed 11 minutes per game last year and will want to contribute more. Jasper Johnson has been consistently playing more than 20 minutes per game. No one wants to be left behind, given college ball is eventually a stepping stone to the NBA; if you can’t stand out, you won’t make it.

And if that was not enough, Oweh continues to linger about with his NBA draft decision. The guard was Pope’s leading scorer last season and having him back on the roster will surely propel their rankings ahead. But on the downside, the head coach will have more minutes to manage.

Pope is charismatic, collaborative, and strategic, but he has never managed such an amount of firepower before. Last year, he did a great job of getting this team together after it had been gutted completely. Now he has an abundance of options; how he will use them is yet to be seen. The positive is that he has been clear to each player about their specific role. It may prove to be a dicey topic as the season goes on, but as far as talent goes, there is no shortage of that in Kentucky.

Otega Oweh on the edge of coming back to Kentucky

“Otega’s physicality is elite; his physicality on the offensive and defensive ends shows up in a lot of ways,” beamed Mark Pope in a recent interaction with the media. While the Wildcats already have a stacked roster, Otega coming back will take them to the next level. If he comes back, he’ll be right in the mix for SEC Player of the Year. But it’s still not decided on his part.

The 2024-25 team’s leading scorer for Kentucky is at the NBA combine right now and he opened up on the possibility of returning back to Kentucky for the following season. During 5-on-5 workouts on Wednesday, Oweh shared his thoughts with ESPN, “The main thing for me is just finding the best situation. Obviously, my goal is to play in the NBA. If I go through this whole process and I’m getting great feedback and I can go all the way, then I’ll do that, 100%. But either situation I’m in, it’s a great situation.”

The decision day looms on the player, as only two weeks are left until he has to give his final call. While his NBA caliber is unquestionable, could he up his draft stock by opting for one more year of college?

“It sounds like the momentum has him going back to Kentucky,” 247 Sports Director of Scouting Adam Finkelstein said at the combine in Chicago. “He spoke with the media and said he believes he’s a first-round pick but insinuated that’s the kind of feedback he wants to hear before staying in the draft.”

The winds seem to be blowing towards Kentucky right now, but since he has not yet spoken on that publicly, there still must be some seed of doubt in his mind. If he comes back, you can put Kentucky a couple of spots above in every ranking that they have seen. After such an investment, the pressure is on Pope in Year 2 to make it all come together after a Sweet 16 season.