There have been a few times this offseason when we thought the Kentucky basketball roster was set. We were mistaken. Braydon Hawthorne and Reece Potter were late additions. We’re still waiting to hear from Otega Oweh, who has until Wednesday to remove his name from the NBA Draft.
For this exercise, let’s say this is the final version of the Kentucky basketball roster. On paper, it’s impressive in both its top-end talent and its depth. We all are asking the same question about it: Is this good enough to go to a Final Four and win a National Championship?
Before answering that question, let’s ask a simpler one: Who’s the most important player on this Kentucky basketball team? This team’s experience sets a high floor. Rather than debate a player’s talents to see who is the most important, I want to explore which one can maximize their potential and individually raise the ceiling of this team to a National Title contender. Let me make a brief case for some of the top candidates.
Otega Oweh
To win National Championships, you need your best players to play their best. Walter Clayton Jr. did it this year for Florida. We all remember what Shabazz Napier and Kemba Walker did for UConn. Even though this team is not built to lean on one star, if you can lean on Otega Oweh to make clutch plays in close NCAA Tournament games, like he did twice against Oklahoma, you can go far in the postseason.
Jayden Quaintance
Oweh is Kentucky’s best college basketball player, but Jayden Quaintance is the Cats’ top NBA prospect. The former five-star talent is an athletic freak who can protect the rim, clean the glass, and score in a variety of ways. However, he’s bringing uncertainty with him to Lexington while rehabbing a season-ending knee injury. The production projections vary so much. He could have a limited role off the bench behind Brandon Garrison, or be an All-SEC standout en route to becoming a lottery pick.
Denzel Aberdeen
Florida fans expected to lean on Denzel Aberdeen to take them back to a Final Four. Mark Pope clearly values National Championship Game experience on his roster. Kentucky was at its best when Lamont Butler was on the floor last year. We might be saying the same thing this year about Aberdeen, who will bring similar defensive tenacity, with more size and length to lock-up opposing wings. His toughness could set the tone for this Kentucky basketball team.
Mo Dioubate
That last line — “His toughness could set the tone for this Kentucky basketball team” — could also apply to Mo Dioubate. It’s hard to imagine a role player of Dioubate’s caliber turning into a star, particularly when he thrived doing the hard things, not necessarily the most skilled things.
But I can’t shake the comments made by his former Alabama teammates. Grant Nelson and Mark Sears said that we’ve only seen a fraction of his game. What does it look like if we see the full arsenal, and what does it mean for Mark Pope’s second Kentucky basketball team?
Collin Chandler
When doing the math for this roster, Collin Chandler is always left out of the equation, and wrongfully so. Remember what we were saying about Chandler time last year? “He’s been out of basketball for a while, but once he gets going, he has all of the tools and a couple of extra years of maturity to become a star.”
Look what happened. He was unplayable in January. By March, he was an X-factor that wasn’t afraid to pull from 30 feet. What happens if he continues on this upward trajectory for another year?
Jasper Johnson
There’s one big thing you can poke holes in this 2025-26 Kentucky basketball roster. Mark Pope wants to shoot 30 threes a game. They failed at reaching that benchmark last year. Do they have enough good shooters to aspire to reach it this year?
Jasper Johnson could be the great equalizer to answer this team’s outside shooting questions. The lefty is explosive when attacking the rim, albeit undersized. We saw a similar shifty player from OTE come into Lexington and sauce opponents on a regular basis. This Kentucky team has plenty of guys who can get to the rack, but they don’t have shooters like Johnson.
Johnson’s fastest path to success is playing in a clearly defined role on the wing as the Kentucky sharpshooter. Once the shots fall, opponents will fly by, opening up driving lanes. If Johnson can shoot north of 36% throughout the year and knock down 3-5 threes a game, this team is going to be awfully hard to guard.
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