LEXINGTON — Unlike so many players who populate college basketball rosters — particularly at Kentucky, which has signed an abundance of McDonald’s All-Americans and has had more players selected in the NBA draft (and more first-round products) than any program in the country — Koby Brea wasn’t a can’t-miss prospect at the beginning of high school.

In fact, during his freshman season at Norman Thomas High School in New York, he didn’t survive roster cuts to make the team. Brea used it as motivation after transferring to Monsignor Scanlan High School, located in the Bronx. His first season at Monsignor Scanlan, Brea helped the junior varsity team reach the final four of the city championship tournament. Later that year, he represented the Dominican National Team in the U-17 FIBA Centrobasket Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Brea appeared in five games, averaging 9.2 points, 4.6 boards and 2.8 assists in 26.8 minutes per outing.

That propelled him into his junior high school season.

By then, he had moved up to the varsity.

His debut game with the varsity was against highly touted New York power Archbishop Stepinac, Brea announced his arrival on the national stage. Facing off against Archbishop Stepinac’s pair of McDonald’s All-Americans, R.J. Davis (now at North Carolina) and AJ Griffin (who went to Duke), Brea put on a show. He poured in 21 points in an 81-69 loss to its nationally ranked foe.

“That’s when everybody knew, like, ‘Yeah, this kid could really be different,’” Chris Florentino, Monsignor Scanlan’s JV boys basketball coach, told The Courier Journal.

Coaching hoops isn’t Florentino’s only job at the school, though. He’s also Monsignor Scanlan’s director of admissions and assisted Brea with his transfer into the school. It was a seamless transition.

“He was a quiet, mild-mannered kid,” Florentino said of Brea, who graduated in 2020. “Super pleasant to be around. People person. He was one of those guys everybody loved, to be honest. He wasn’t like a Hollywood-type of guy. He was humble. And I think that came from his family. … It was good to have him around.”

It’s the same thing UK and its fans have said since the 6-foot-7, 215-pound guard joined the program during the offseason.

Brea was the nation’s top 3-point shooter last season, sinking nearly half (100 for 201; 49.8%) of his long-range attempts for Dayton. But after four years with the Flyers, he entered the transfer portal. That set off a spirited recruitment that involved some of the country’s most storied programs. He wound up picking UK over a quartet of other blue bloods: Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and UConn.

His torrid shooting from distance hasn’t slowed down this season. Through the first four games of the Wildcats’ 2024-25 campaign, Brea had made a scorching 78.9% (15 for 19) of his 3-point attempts. Though he’s cooled off slightly, he’s still within striking distance of topping the national chart for the second time in as many seasons.

He shrugs off the title of “college basketball’s best 3-point shooter,” however, a callback to Florentino’s mention of his former pupil’s humility.

“I’m always focused on what I have to do as a player for my team to succeed, what we have to do as a team,” Brea said. “And I’m always just looking to win. And within that, I play my best. People free me up, and we all love playing with each other. So I know that any time I’m open, those guys are confident, and they trust in me a lot — and they’re willing to pass it. And as a shooter, that’s all you want: You want to have the confidence and trust of your teammates.”

They not only have faith in him. They’re in awe.

“Koby is one of a kind, man,” fifth-year senior forward Andrew Carr said. “It’s really special.”

Carr, a gifted shooter himself, wasn’t sure how Brea does it.

“I think it’s got to be a little bit of God-given touch and talent. He works super, super hard. We see that and just the way the ball comes off his hand. He thinks it’s going in; we all think it’s going in every single time.”

For all the praise he receives — and rightly so — for his shooting touch, Brea isn’t satisfied. He’s striving for more ways to frustrate foes. Even if those areas hadn’t been his calling card during the four-season run with the Flyers.

“Outside of his 3-point shooting, his statistical profile? He doesn’t really do much else,” Evan Miyakawa, a basketball statistician who runs the analytics website EvanMiya.com, told The Courier Journal last summer. “He doesn’t really rebound the ball much. He doesn’t really provide for teammates much. He was a middling defender, at best, for Dayton last year. So his value is 3-point shooting. That’s what it is. But there’s not a lot outside of that, and because of that, that’s why I don’t have him ranked as highly as some of UK’s other transfers.”

Brea is well aware of the criticism.

“That was something that I focused on a lot this summer: just U evolving from a shooter to an all-around player,” he said. “I continue to be labeled as ‘a shooter,’ and I want to be more than that, you know?”

That label — that he’s “just a shooter” — is bothersome to Brea.

“I know that there’s a lot more to my game,” he said, “but obviously that’s what I do best, so I understand why they might feel that way. But at the end of the day as a player, you just want to keep evolving and keep growing. I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of that — and thanks to the coaches for that.

“It never stops. You’ve just got to keep going.”

Florentino has no doubt Brea will do just that. And Florentino can’t wait for Saturday, when Brea will be back in the Big Apple with the Wildcats. That day, UK takes on Ohio State at Madison Square Garden, part of this year’s edition of the CBS Sports Classic.

When Brea was in town with Dayton for previous matchups versus Fordham, all of Monsignor Scanlan’s teams — varsity and varsity B, JV and freshman — were on hand to support him.

He’ll have a sizable cheering section at “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” too.

“Being that he’s from Manhattan, he’s gonna have the Dominican crew in there waiting on his arrival,” Florentino said. “So I know he’s definitely gonna look to put on a show.”

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