Who’s going to start for this UK basketball team? More importantly, does anybody care?

Any considerable amount of roster turnover in college basketball leads to intrigue over roles and playing time and, especially, starting lineups.

Mark Pope’s first Kentucky team is as intriguing as it gets, in that regard.

With a complete roster overhaul — all 12 scholarship players are new to the program — and a wealth of experience, Pope will have some difficult decisions to make as he figures out how exactly all of these pieces fit together.

The fishbowl nature of UK basketball makes the speculation over who starts and who doesn’t an annual preseason exercise around here.

The recent consternation caused by former coach John Calipari’s choices last season — eventual NBA lottery picks Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham famously came off the bench, while more highly touted recruits stuck in the starting five despite lesser results — amplified the conversation around starting lineups.

Pope’s roster construction adds to the intrigue.

This Kentucky team consists of mostly transfers — nine of them, in fact — and all nine have considerable experience as starters elsewhere in college basketball.

In total, these nine players have a combined 586 starts at the Division I level, with a majority of those starts coming at what would be considered high-major programs. That’s a staggering number that drives home just how experienced this UK roster will be.

It also shows just how much some of these Wildcats will have to sacrifice moving forward, as well as the potential juggling act Pope might have on his hands as his first season at UK begins.

Pope’s approach to starters

This UK basketball roster is unique.

The Wildcats don’t appear to have a superstar player — certainly none like the presumed lottery picks that peppered Calipari’s teams — but Pope’s squad also goes incredibly deep. All 12 of his scholarship players could play meaningful minutes at the highest level, and there’s little separation throughout much of the roster.

As a result, fans who perused national lists this offseason that featured projected starting lineups for college basketball’s top teams probably noticed a lot of variation with the Kentucky predictions.

Projecting a starting five starts with trying to figure out the philosophy of the guy who actually makes the lineup. Does Pope prefer to trot his five best players out there first? Is it the five pieces that fit best together?

“It’s both and all of the above. It really is,” he said. “I believe in the synergy of every aspect of this game. I think that’s such a massive part of this game. I think it’s why team sports are brilliant. And so there’s going to be times when I’m saying, ‘Hey, we’re going with this starting lineup, because these pieces fit together.’ There’s gonna be times when I say, ‘We’re going with this starting lineup, because it’s our best five guys.’ … I think that’s a pretty dynamic space.”

His recent track record shows a certain willingness to be flexible with his first five.

The best example there is Jaxson Robinson , who played the past two seasons at BYU — making him the only player on this Kentucky team who’s ever been coached by Pope.

Robinson started 30 of 33 games during his first season with the Cougars after playing relatively limited minutes at Texas A&M and Arkansas during the two previous years.

By all accounts, Robinson was a better player in year two at BYU, but he started just six games last season, taking on a reserve role that led to him becoming the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year.

Robinson was featured more last season despite coming off the bench. He led the Cougars with 14.2 points per game — up from 8.5 per game the previous season — and his shot attempts increased by nearly 50% in year two under Pope. He was also third on the team with 26.4 minutes per game, trailing only starting point guard Dallin Hall (29.3) and senior guard Spencer Johnson (27.9), the Cougars’ top rebounder.

Pope has played the starting lineup game in different ways over his coaching career.

Last season, it was pretty much set, with five Cougars starting at least 85% of the games in which they appeared.

In Pope’s previous years at BYU, there was more wiggle room.

His 2022-23 squad featured seven players that started at least 13 games. His three Cougars’ teams before that all had six guys with double-digit starts.

Perhaps Pope finds a five that makes sense. Maybe he’ll mix it up. Either way, he’ll have plenty of choices.

Who starts for Kentucky?

With nine experienced transfers to choose from — plus freshman guard Collin Chandler , a former top-40 recruit — Pope has options across the positional spectrum.

He’s already sent some signals as to who to expect on the Rupp Arena court when the season begins against Wright State on Nov. 4.

Based on everything Pope has said, it would be a shock if Lamont Butler isn’t in the starting lineup. The 6-foot-2 point guard played four seasons at San Diego State — helping the Aztecs reach the national title game in 2023 — and is regarded as one of the best perimeter defenders in college basketball. He has 102 career starts.

Andrew Carr — a 6-11 power forward — is perhaps the most likely Kentucky starter. His reputation as a 3-point threat who can stretch the floor while still playing quality defense is a perfect fit for Pope’s approach. He leads this team with 112 career starts and was in the first five for all 68 of his games at Wake Forest. (Carr played his first two seasons at Delaware.)

Robinson — a 6-6 guard — also sounds likely to start, despite readily accepting a reserve role on last season’s BYU team. He’s probably Kentucky’s most well-rounded offensive player and is the only Wildcat who knows Pope’s system. His presence has been invaluable over the team’s early practices.

At the 5 spot will be either Amari Williams or Brandon Garrison , both intriguing post players.

From the chatter out of the Joe Craft Center, it sounds as if Williams — a 7-footer with a 7-5 wingspan and 262-pound frame — is the more likely starter. He started 79 games at Drexel and was named the Coastal Athletic Association defensive player of the year after each of the previous three seasons.

Garrison — a 6-10 sophomore and former McDonald’s All-American — started 29 of 32 games at Oklahoma State last season, however, and he will play plenty of minutes in his first year with the Wildcats.

That leaves the other guard spot, and Pope could go in any number of directions there.

Koby Brea — a 6-7 guard — made 100 3-pointers at a 49.8% clip for Dayton last season, and his style of play appears to be perfectly suited for Pope’s system . Of the nine transfers, Brea actually has the fewest career starts — just 21 in four seasons. He was named the Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year twice in the past three seasons and averaged 29.1 minutes per game last season.

Kerr Kriisa — a 6-3 point guard — is actually third on the team with 93 starts in 99 career games, and all of those have come at the highest level. He was Arizona’s starting point guard for two years and West Virginia’s last season. Assuming Butler is indeed UK’s starting point guard — and even Kriisa has referred to him as “PG1” — then Pope could go with two playmakers in the first five by adding Kriisa into the mix.

Otega Oweh — a 6-4, 215-pound guard — started 37 games over the past two seasons at Oklahoma, where he emerged as a two-way player and caught Pope’s interest for his physical defensive style. He also might be UK’s best bet as an offensive penetrator, a possible weakness for this team.

All three of those players would be worthy UK starters, as well as complementary fits alongside the other Wildcats expected to be in Pope’s first five.

The Kentucky coach also has 6-7, 244-pound forward Ansley Almonor , a perimeter threat and likely backup forward who started 69 games over three seasons at Fairleigh Dickinson, as well as the three freshmen: Chandler and in-state recruits Travis Perry and Trent Noah .

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Does it matter who starts?

With all that out of the way, does it really matter who’s out there for UK’s opening tip-offs?

Pope will probably like the responses his players had to that question.

While there’s something to be said for taking pride in being among the first group to take the court for the Wildcats, the new UK coach has also strived to mold this collection of 12 basketball strangers into one unit over the past four months, and that process warrants a certain level of sacrifice.

Early feedback out of Kentucky’s camp suggests this team has found that balance .

It helps when there’s unselfishness at the top.

ESPN released its first ranking of the top 100 prospects for the 2025 NBA draft this week, and Brea and Robinson were the first two UK players listed. Both won Sixth Man of the Year honors in their respective conferences last season. Both are prepared to play the same role here.

“Obviously, you know I came off the bench my last couple years in Dayton, so I’m definitely ready to be the best version of myself in any role that’s given to me,” Brea said. “But I think we just have a lot of guys that are willing to sacrifice. … I feel like there’s a whole bunch of guys that are willing to take the role that’s given to them and try to be the best at it.”

Robinson said being a regular starter isn’t on his mind.

“It doesn’t mean anything, honestly. I just want to win ball games,” he said. “Whether that’s coming off the bench or starting, it doesn’t change for me. I mean, you know how it was for me last year, so starting is not any of my concern.”

Both said that’s a widespread sentiment across Pope’s first squad.

“This is an unselfish team. Brotherhood, is what I call it,” Robinson said. “So nobody’s worried about that, that’s for sure.”

Brea noted that the younger guys on the team have shown a great amount of maturity, which should help as roles become more defined once the season begins.

“They understand, at the end of the day, we’re all here to win,” he said. “ We’re all here to hang a banner , and so we gotta do whatever’s necessary. Nothing’s personal about it. At the end of the day, we love playing with each other, so it doesn’t really matter to us.”

The two players involved in perhaps the most intriguing position battle — Williams and Garrison — echoed those thoughts.

“I don’t think there’s any difference between starting or coming off the bench,” Williams said. “The whole one unit — everyone’s looking to win. So that’s basically the way to go. Just win. Win a banner. Win No. 9.”

Garrison said the importance of the starting five is to simply have guys who can get the game going on a positive note. Whether he’s in that group?

“It really doesn’t matter,” he said. “You know, I’m just here to get better and hang banners. So I don’t really worry about that stuff.”

Kriisa might be the player with the biggest sacrifice to make.

If Pope goes with Butler as his starting point guard and opts for more traditional starters (like Robinson and Brea) at the 2 and 3, it would mean a reserve role for Kriisa, who was the starting point guard on two excellent Arizona teams — the Wildcats were a 1 seed in 2022 and a 2 seed in 2023 — and played 33.5 minutes per game at West Virginia last season.

Taking on a reserve role might be a hit to the ego, right?

“Uh-uh,” Kriisa said, shaking his head at the question of how much starting matters.

The 23-year-old grew up in Estonia and played for professional teams across Europe before coming to the United States as a recruit in 2020. He offered a unique perspective.

“See, basketball is … no, starting doesn’t matter at all,” Kriisa said. “I would say, for me, the bigger thing is who finishes the games. I feel like the starting stuff is a very American thing. Overseas, you grow up, it’s like — you’re watching basketball — you have 10 guys. Everybody kind of plays equal minutes. Every game, the starting rotation is different. It depends on the personnel, who we are playing, the teams, etc. And when I came from overseas to here, all I started hearing is, ‘Are you starting? Who is starting?’ Blah blah — everything about starting.

“So, I’m not bought into the starting bulls--- at all.”

Kriisa added that this Kentucky team reminds him of those European-style rotations he referenced: squads that can go 10 deep, spread playing time around and hit on the best combinations at the end of games.

“We have a lot of different pieces,” he said with a grin.

While the speculation will be rampant in the coming weeks and the second-guessing will be inevitable if slow starts occur, the starting five isn’t the top thing on Pope’s mind. Taking all those pieces and making them work over 40 minutes is much more important.

“We don’t spend a lot of time emphasizing starting. It’s finishing that really matters,” the UK coach said. “And sometimes finishing is not even the most important thing, right? There’s so many ways that guys make contributions. But there are times when, on paper, it might look like you could make a really rational argument about why rotations should work differently, because there are a lot of rational arguments to be made. But we’ll consider all those things kind of as we go.”

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