• Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope must replace seven seniors from the 2024-25 roster.
• The Wildcats have three high school prospects signed for the 2025-26 season: Jasper Johnson, Acaden Lewis and Malachi Moreno.
• Five players from last season could return, but none have made official announcements about their plans.

LEXINGTON — After assuming the reins of his alma mater, coach Mark Pope had to build the Kentucky basketball roster from scratch. The dozen scholarship players who were part of the 2023-24 team? All of them left. Some because their college eligibility was up. Others departed for the NBA draft or transfer portal.

Pope shouldn’t have quite as much heavy lifting heading into Year 2.

That’s because five players could return from last season.

The only certainties: The Wildcats have signed three high school prospects in the 2025 recruiting cycle.

And they must replace their seven-member senior class. Only one of them could still be playing college hoops during the 2025-26 campaign, though: Kerr Kriisa revealed March 31 he would enter the transfer portal.

But Pope and his staff already have one portal player in the fold for next season: Former Tulane wing Kam Williams committed March 28.

Bookmark this page as The Courier Journal tracks offseason news related to UK’s 2025-26 roster. 

G Kerr Kriisa (6-foot-5, 185 pounds, Fifth-year Sr.): Kriisa appeared in UK’s first nine games of the 2024-25 season … and that was all she wrote for the Estonian. A foot injury suffered in the team’s overtime win over Gonzaga on Dec. 7 simply never healed to the point he was cleared to return to the floor. While he said March 31 he’d put his name into the transfer portal, 11 days before that, Kriisa pondered the possibility of heading back overseas to start his professional career. Kriisa averaged 4.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game for the Wildcats; his assist average ranked No. 2 on the team behind fellow point guard Lamont Butler (4.3). Should he enroll at another university, it will be his fourth team in six seasons. He started his college career at Arizona (2020-21 through 2022-23) before moving on to West Virginia (2023-24) and then Kentucky.

Here are the six Kentucky seniors who have played their final collegiate games:

• F Ansley Almonor (6-foot-7, 244 pounds)
• G Koby Brea (6-foot-7, 215 pounds)
• G Lamont Butler (6-foot-2, 208 pounds)
• F Andrew Carr (6-foot-11, 235 pounds)
• G Jaxson Robinson (6-foot-6, 192 pounds)
• C Amari Williams (7 foot, 262 pounds)

This section will be updated as Kentucky players announce whether they plan to return to Lexington for the 2025-26 season.

Here are the five players who might be back with the Wildcats:

• G Collin Chandler (6-foot-5, 202 pounds)
• F Brandon Garrison (6-foot-11, 250 pounds)
• G Trent Noah (6-foot-5, 220 pounds)
• G Otega Oweh (6-foot-4, 215 pounds)
• G Travis Perry (6-foot-1, 188 pounds)

What to know: While no member of the above quintet has made an official proclamation regarding their intentions for next season, each offered differing takes following Kentucky’s season-ending loss to Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.

A rising senior, Oweh simply shook his head when asked whether he’d given thought to the 2025-26 campaign.

Garrison, who would be a junior next season, said he would head back to Oklahoma and huddle up with his family and agent before deciding what’s next.

Chandler, Noah and Perry, the three signees in UK’s 2024 recruiting class, are set to be sophomores. Perry, the all-time leading scorer in Kentucky high school basketball history, said he “certainly” plans to suit up for his home state program next season. Chandler said that with the team so focused on winning the program’s ninth national title, he “hadn’t really talked much about” next season with the coaching staff.

Noah made the most definitive statement of any potential returnee.

“Kentucky, this is my dream school,” he told The Courier Journal. “I don’t want to put on any other jersey besides this one. So, yeah, (being back next season) is the plan, for sure.”

G/F Kam Williams (6-foot-8, 195 pounds): Williams became the first transfer commitment for the Wildcats’ 2025-26 squad on March 28, hours before the team’s Big Dance battle versus Tennessee. An uber-athletic wing, Williams averaged 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1 block per game for Tulane during the 2024-25 season. He also was an All-American Athletic Conference Freshman Team selection after pacing the Green Wave in 3-point percentage (41.2; 63 for 153).

G Jasper Johnson (6-foot-4, 174 pounds): Johnson, a Lexington native, is a UK legacy. His father, Dennis Johnson, once starred for the Wildcats’ football team along the defensive line. (The elder Johnson now is Woodford County’s athletics director and head football coach.) Jasper Johnson committed to Kentucky on Sept. 5 during a ceremony at Woodford County High. Jasper led Woodford County to the KHSAA Sweet 16 in 2023 — the school’s first appearance in the event since 1986 — before transferring to national prep powerhouse Link Academy. He finished his last season of high school basketball competing in the Overtime Elite league in Atlanta. Johnson is considered a five-star prospect by ESPN, while Rivals, 247Sports and On3 gave him four stars. Per the 247Sports Composite, Johnson ranks No. 18 nationally — and No. 5 among shooting guards — in the 2025 cycle.

G Acaden Lewis (6-foot-2, 170 pounds): Lewis gave his pledge to Kentucky on Nov. 2. He picked UK over his two other finalists, Duke and UConn. A star in the nation’s capital, Lewis was the Gatorade District of Columbia Boys Basketball Player of the Year in 2023-24 after averaging 14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game for Sidwell Friends School. He also lifted the team to the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference title and the District of Columbia State Athletic Association Class AA championship. Lewis is the No. 30 recruit in the country for 2025, per the 247Sports Composite, slotting in as the fifth-ranked point guard.

C Malachi Moreno (6-foot-11, 230 pounds): Moreno got the Wildcats’ 2025 recruiting class off the ground Aug. 19, announcing his commitment during a ceremony at Great Crossing High in Georgetown. Now a McDonald’s All-American, Moreno was named Kentucky’s 2025 Mr. Basketball after averaging 21.5 points, 14.8 rebounds, 3.6 blocks and 3.5 assists per game during the regular season. He then propelled the school to its first state title in boys basketball, tallying 24 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks against Bowling Green in the championship game of the UK HealthCare Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena. Not surprisingly, Moreno won the Sweet 16 MVP award. Moreno entered the Sweet 16 with 2,392 points and 1,896 rebounds during his high school career, which began when he still was an eighth grader. Moreno clocks in as the No. 27 player nationally in 2025, per the 247Sports Composite — and the No. 2 center.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.