4-Point Play: Move-in week is here for Kentucky basketball

Roster-building chaos has come to a close following Kentucky’s addition of BYU transfer Jaxson Robinson, a game-changing piece that tied the 12-man group together about as well as possible considering the circumstances surrounding Mark Pope’s hire in Lexington. Given the timing and starting from scratch with the previous roster and anticipated recruiting class dissolving, the Wildcats’ ability to build a stacked core in just seven weeks is wildly impressive. It wasn’t perfect with a few misses along the way, but those were often replaced by equal or greater talent value on the rebound.

One spot remains (more on that in a second) but the days of massive recruiting weekends with portal visitors hoping to add quality in numbers are over. Now it’s time to get them on campus for good and focus on the next step: preparing for the season.

That’s where things stand today, move-in week officially underway with summer workouts ready to begin. As players arrive in Lexington and get settled in, Pope will continue rounding out his support staff to give them all the help they can get ahead of the reason — he added two more today in Nick Robinson as director of operations and Randy Towner as head strength coach.

Ansley Almonor is the latest Wildcat to arrive

First it was Kerr Kriisa, the West Virginia guard getting first dibs on the king suite at the Wildcat Lodge after arriving on Sunday. He showed up with his golf clubs in hand and claimed the biggest room, saying it is “exciting (to begin) a new era in one of the best places in college basketball.”

“I’m thrilled and excited to get to work,” Kriisa said.

From there, it was Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Ansley Almonor, who arrived in Lexington on Monday.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life,” the 6-7 sharpshooter said. “It’s great to finally be here, excited to get to work and play for these fans in this community and the state. It’s beautiful, man. Look at this!”

There are your first two. What’s next? KSR+ has kept the live tracker rolling all day with the latest intel on when each player will be arriving to officially begin their Kentucky careers — including one already on campus who should be announced soon.

Those are just the move-in dates. Elsewhere, freshman orientation begins for the first-year trio of Perry, Noah and Chandler on June 7, followed by the first day of summer classes on June 10. The onboarding process begins then with workouts set to begin June 17, exactly two weeks from today.

Jamie Vinson lands at Texas

The 6-9 power forward out of Oak Hill Academy (VA) will not be a Wildcat. KSR previously reported talks had stalled between Vinson and Kentucky, a mutual parting of ways when a five-year redshirt path was discussed with the nation’s No. 206 overall recruit. Other schools offered immediate playing time while an early role was not guaranteed in Lexington, leading Vinson to continue exploring his options.

Among them? South Carolina, Rutgers and Texas before the three-star forward ultimately landed on the Longhorns.

The Austin native announced his commitment to Rodney Terry and UT on Monday.

With that, Kentucky’s final roster spot remains open with only 12 scholarships used and one more to go. Who will take it? Pope previously said it would be a “floating piece” that could be used on a “young player” willing to take a redshirt (as offered to Vinson), a “project” or a “high-risk guy.”

Cody Fueger added that the Wildcats could explore the international route, as well.

“You never know what European kid is going to want to play college basketball late,” he said. “Things are so fluid and changing in this college basketball environment right now.”

They’re “definitely going to fill all 13 scholarships,” Fueger said, but “unless it’s a no-brainer and we gotta have somebody … we’re just going to take our time with that 13th one.”

Jasper Johnson, USA Basketball compete in U18 AmeriCup

Lexington’s own Jasper Johnson is set to take the floor for USA Basketball in the 2024 FIBA U18 AmeriCup in Buenos Aires, the United States battling Argentina to open Group B play on Monday.

Joining Johnson? ’25 five-star guard Darius Acuff Jr., ’25 five-star wing Nate Ament, ’25 five-star guard Mikel Brown Jr., ’25 four-star guard Jeremiah Fears, ’25 four-star wing Shelton Henderson, ’24 four-star center Daniel Jacobsen, ’24 four-star forward Morez Johnson Jr., ’25 four-star wing Nikolas Khamenia, ’25 five-star guard Trey McKenney, ’24 five-star center Patrick Ngongba II and ’24 four-star wing Derrion Reid.

Kentucky is recruiting the in-state standout, along with the likes of Ament, Brown, Henderson and McKenney, among others.

Check out their first game this evening at 7:10 p.m. ET, live on YouTube:

All games will be broadcast live on the FIBA YouTube Channel here.

PJ Washington is the X-Factor in the Finals

The NBA Finals are set to begin starting Thursday between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. No, the series won’t be decided by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving. Instead, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith believes it’ll be decided by a former Wildcat.

With so much attention on the big-time stars this series, the big personality believes PJ Washington’s 3-point shooting will swing the series and ultimately decide the championship over the course of the next week or two.

“If PJ Washington hits threes, Dallas is winning the championship. Dallas is about to win the championship if he’s hitting those threes,” he said. “… When someone has been open (with Doncic and Irving covered), it’s usually PJ Washington in one of the corners, him or Derrick Jones. … If they’re hitting threes — specifically PJ Washington — there is nothing Boston can do. If PJ Washington hits threes, Dalllas Mavericks are going to win the championship.”

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