Kentucky
Kentucky basketball 2024 NBA mock drafts: Where are Wildcats players projected to be picked?
The order has been set for the 2024 NBA Draft, with the draft lottery taking place on Sunday. And, despite Kentucky basketball’s early exit from the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the draft could still prove fruitful for several Wildcats.
While the Wildcats likely don’t have a player in the early contention for the No. 1 overall pick ― which goes to the Atlanta Hawks, despite having the second-lowest odds to land it ― it could be a good June 26 for UK fans watching the action unfold at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
REQUIRED READING: Former Kentucky coach John Calipari speaks on ending at Kentucky and leaving for Arkansas
A mock draft published right after the lottery show on Sunday by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo has two Kentucky players picked in the top four, while USA TODAY’s For the Win writer Bryan Kalbrosky has three Wildcats picked in the lottery.
Australian big man Alex Sarr is the early favorite to go No. 1 overall early in the process. Kentucky sharpshooter Reed Sheppard is projected to go No. 3 in a couple of mock drafts, while teammate Rob Dillingham joins him in Texas with the San Antonio Spurs at No. 4 in an ESPN mock draft and even as high as No. 3 in another.
Here’s a look at where Kentucky players are expected to be selected in the 2024 NBA Draft:
Kentucky basketball 2024 NBA mock draft
ESPN and USA TODAY have Sheppard landing with an up-and-coming young team in the Houston Rockets. The Rockets drew the No. 3 pick despite finishing the season at 41-41, with a late-season run getting them into contention for a potential NBA play-in game.
Houston has a strong young nucleus led by Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. The Rockets could emphasize adding some shooting for their young nucleus this offseason, which makes Sheppard the perfect fit.
The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 12.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.1 rebounds on 53.6% field goal shooting and 52.1% from 3-point range, earning USBWA and NABC Freshman of the Year honors.
“The Rockets turned the page on their rebuild by hiring coach Ime Udoka and making a splash in free agency last summer. Houston could look at plug-and-play options with this pick considering the youthful roster construction. Shooting will likely be a priority this summer, and the dynamic shot-making versatility of Sheppard — who made over 50% of his 3s this season — could be attractive with this pick, along with his feel for the game and defensive instincts. Expect Donovan Clingan to get a look here as well if the front office feels he can play heavy minutes alongside Alperen Sengun in a multi-big men lineups.” — Givony
Mock drafts
At 6-foot-3, Dillingham could be undersized for the NBA. But SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell still has him going as high as No. 3 to the Houston Rockets after a strong freshman season. Dillingham averaged 15.2 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds on 47.5% shooting from the field and 44.4% shooting from 3-point range. He would also be a good addition to a young team seeking a quick turnaround.
“Dillingham is an impossibly shifty shot creator for himself and others thanks to his deep shooting range, soft touch, and tremendous vision as a passer. The 6’2 guard has the best handle in the class with the ability to link dribble-crossovers, change direction, and get off a good look at the rim against bigger defenders. He’s the rare guard prospect whose shooting ability feels equally dangerous off the dribble and off the catch: Dillingham can punish unders with deep pull-ups, and also has a fantastic feel for relocating around the three-point line to knock down spot-ups.”
Mock drafts
REQUIRED READING: Former Kentucky coach John Calipari speaks on ending at Kentucky and leaving for Arkansas
ESPN and FTW also agree that Justin Edwards was the final Kentucky player selected in the first round. The 6-foot-7 forward is projected to the Washington Wizards at No. 26. Edwards averaged 8.8 points and 3.4 rebounds as a freshman, not quite living up to his billing as the No. 3 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class, per 247Sports’ Composite rankiings.
“Edwards did not have the season many expected at Kentucky but is still worthy of consideration in this area of the draft at 6-7 with some perimeter shooting acumen and upside to grow into after one season in college. The Wizards could look to bolster their wing depth, which would make Edwards a candidate to get drafted late in the first round.” — Givony
Mock drafts
- ESPN: No. 26 to the Washington Wizards
- USA Today FTW: No. 26 to the Washington Wizards
- The Athletic: No. 47 (second round) to the Orlando Magic
- Yahoo Sports: No. 48 (second round) to the Orlando Magic
- The Ringer: No. 53 (second round) to the Detroit Pistons
Of the six previously mentioned mocks, only The Athletic and NBA Draft Net have Kentucky senior guard Antonio Reeves being picked. The NBA draft-dedicated site has Reeves going No. 38 to the New York Knicks, while The Athletic author Sam Vecenie has Reeves selected as the No. 44 overall pick, going off the board in the second round to the Houston Rockets. Reeves averaged 20.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 51.2% shooting and 44.7% shooting from 3.
Entering the weekend, Vanderbilt baseball had gotten swept in its only SEC series in which it hadn’t won the first game.
So the Commodores had a tough task in a series they badly needed after dropping the opener 5-2 on a walk-off grand slam after Vanderbilt’s best healthy starter, Connor Fennell, pitched well.
But the Commodores (24-17, 9-9 SEC) rebounded to take the series with an 8-7 win in the second game and a 13-6 win in the finale April 19. They did that despite not having any pitcher go more than three innings in either game. Though the pitching was still shaky at times — they issued more free passes than strikeouts in both of the wins — they worked out of enough jams to let the offense go to work.
Here’s what we learned from the series.
Will Hampton proves an unlikely hero for the offense
Vanderbilt got strong performances from a few of its typical top performers, including Braden Holcomb (6-for-13, four doubles) and Brodie Johnston (4-for-12, two home runs, three walks). But one of the biggest hits of the series came from the unlikeliest of sources.
Logan Johnstone was held out of the finale after colliding with Mike Mancini in Game 2, and in his place coach Tim Corbin opted to go with redshirt freshman Will Hampton in left field. Hampton had recorded just six college plate appearances, all of which were in nonconference games.
But Hampton reached in all three of his plate appearances against Kentucky, first on a single, then a walk. In the sixth inning, with the score tied, he came up with the bases loaded and two outs and blasted a grand slam, giving Vanderbilt its first lead.
Tyler Baird learns the ups and downs of being a closer
Freshman Tyler Baird has been Vanderbilt’s closer for the past three weeks, recording his first save April 2 against Texas A&M. But he learned the pitfalls that can come with that role in Game 1 against Kentucky. Summoned for an eight-out save with the Commodores leading 2-1, he retired the first five batters, but loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth. He struck out the next two batters but then gave up the walk-off grand slam.
Baird returned for Game 3, this time attempting a five-out save and coming in with runners on first and second and one out with a three-run lead in the eighth inning. He allowed both inherited runners to score, but kept the lead and then had a scoreless ninth inning after Vanderbilt scored three runs in the top of the inning.
Baird’s emergence has been key for the Commodores, and the Game 3 bounce-back was especially important.
Vanderbilt’s RPI shows improvement
On April 15, Vanderbilt was 95th in RPI, a mark that wasn’t going to cut it for NCAA Tournament selection. But with a road series win against a Kentucky team that started the week in the top 20 of RPI, the Commodores moved all the way up to 75th, according to Warren Nolan.
While Vanderbilt will need to keep moving up — a top-50 mark would be ideal — the series win did a lot. In the next two weeks, it will face two top-five RPI teams in Alabama and Texas, giving more opportunity to improve its standing.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
Power forward has been one of the positions that Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have to fill with Andrija Jelavic and Mo Dioubate gone. The two players that Pope has had on campus at the power forward position are Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman and Colorado’s Sebastian Rancik. Both are really good players, but Freeman is better by a wide margin.
It has felt that entire time that Kentucky wanted Rancik as the backup to Freeman or a backup plan if they weren’t able to land Freeman. Well, Rancik just picked Florida State, so perhaps this is a sign that the Wildcats will land Freeman.
Big Blue Nation was torn on Rancik, but I do believe he would have been a really solid backup power forward. I personally didn’t want him to be the starting four for this team. It is clear that he wanted to go somewhere where he could be the guy at the four, so he will be heading to the ACC to play for FSU.
Now that Kentucky has missed on Rancik, it is very important that the Wildcats land Freeman soon. The problem with waiting on some of these players is the fact that the portal isn’t slowing down. If Pope targets two power forwards and misses on both of them, most of the good fours in the portal will be gone.
There will be some panic in Lexington if the Wildcats are not able to land Freeman, but I do believe the Wildcats are in a good spot to land the elite power forward. From the beginning, Freeman has been my top player for Kentucky in the portal, as he, plus Malachi Moreno, will give the Wildcats an elite frontcourt.
If Pope is able to land Freeman and Tyran Stokes to pair with Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Moreno, and Kam Williams, this could be the start of a really good team in Lexington. Hopefully, an announcement for where Freeman will transfer comes soon, and hopefully, this will be to play for Pope at Kentucky.
Fans of rival teams will say Pope “whiffed” on Rancik, but if this whiff was because the Wildcats are set to land Freeman soon, then it was more than worth it for Kentucky. If the Wildcats are able to land Freeman, it will officially be time for Big Blue Nation to start getting excited about the 2026-27 season. I expect a decision from Freeman to come within the next day or two.
Rancik would have been a solid backup four in Lexington but Freeman has been the guy from the beggining for this staff so if Kentucky lands him all is well. If the staff misses on Freeman not landing Rancik will look bad.
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Kentucky
Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report
Jones posted on Twitter that “Kentucky will have (absent a major change) either Freeman or Rancik by tomorrow,” while also noting the Wildcats still need to add another shooter and another big to round out the roster.
One of the top targets is Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore forward transferring from Syracuse. Freeman arrived in Lexington on Tuesday night and began his visit on Wednesday before leaving without a commitment. While there was concern he could land at UConn, that visit has since been canceled, leaving Kentucky and St. John’s as the top teams.
Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game last season, while adding nearly a block and a steal per contest. He shot 47.4% from the field but 30.2% from 3-point range across 23 games.
The other option is Sebastian Rancik, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore forward transferring from Colorado. Rancik visited Kentucky starting Wednesday through Thursday and brings a versatile skill set, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 33.1% from 3.
Either Freeman or Rancik would provide a significant boost at the power forward position for head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has already added guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins in the portal.
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