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This is not John Calipari’s Kentucky basketball. New coach Mark Pope, who took over for Calipari after the venerable but controversial coach left for Arkansas in April, continues to chart his own path in putting together the 2024-25 roster and this week finally locked up a commitment from NCAA transfer Ansley Almonor, the 6-foot-7 shooter from Fairleigh Dickinson.
Almonor had appeared destined to move on to Siena in upstate New York, a mid-major school in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, before Pope and his staff moved in—the only major Power 5 conference team to go after Almonor. Iona and Pepperdine were also on Almonor’s list.
Certainly, he is not a player Calipari would have pursued.
And maybe that’s a good thing, because the numbers say that though Almonor might not be a future NBA star, he could fill a useful role for UK. He’s a well-polished NCAA shooter.
Almonor is heading into his senior season having played 32 games for Fairleigh Dickinson last year. He averaged 16.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists and made 39.4% of his 3-pointers. He was not shy on his shooting, either: In all, he took 7.4 3-point tries per game, and his 2.91 makes per game ranked 36th in the nation.
Ansley Almonor a ‘Juggernaut’ Shooter
Now, Almonor certainly could have had a starring role had he moved on to another mid-major, but at UK, he is likely to be a backup forward behind 6-foot-11 shooter Andrew Carr. He’s get playing time, but it won’t be the 32.0 minutes per game he racked up last season.
While it is understandable that Almonor wanted to move on to greener pastures, he was part of history at Fairleigh Dickinson a year ago in the NCAA tournament. That was when the 16th-seeded Knights upset Purdue in the first round, becoming only the second No. 16 to knock off a top seed.
Almonor was not a big factor in that game, but he was the focal point of the team last season.
Our Saviour Lutheran coach Peter Wehye, who coached Almonor in school, told the recruiting site ZagsBlog, “He’s a juggernaut of a shooter. He’s going to stretch the floor out. I know they’re going to be super dangerous [with Almonor and Kobe Brea]. When you’re talking about Ansley, you’re talking about adding a high-level shooter at the power forward position.”
Kentucky Basketball Roster at 11
The commitment brings the Kentucky basketball roster to 11, which is where most coaches around college hoops generally stop. But Pope has said he intends to use all 13 scholarships and is still in the mix for a big-time scorer to bolster what is a very defensive-minded group.
The top target has been Jaxson Robinson, who Pope at BYU and averaged 14.2 points last season—his fourth college season, at three different schools (his career started first at Texas A&M, then at Arkansas).
Also on the list is North Florida scorer Chaz Lanier and Miami transfer Wooga Poplar. On3 Sports reported that Lanier has actually moved ahead of Robinson on the Kentucky wish list, and that UK’s biggest competition is not only Tennessee, but also the NBA. Lanier (as well as Poplar and Robinson) is participating in this week’s NBA combine and could opt to stay in the draft.
On3’s Jamie Shaw wrote: “Speaking of Kentucky, sources close to the recruitment tell me that the Wildcats have gone all in on Lanier. Some have suggested he is their top option left on the board. Sources have indicated that the staff likes Lanier’s ability to score and feels he is the missing piece to the roster they have built.”
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