Mark Pope’s transfer haul gave Kentucky a lot of new pieces to sort through, but the biggest one may be the point guard he brought in from Washington. CBS Sports’ Isaac Trotter made the case that Zoom Diallo, not Milan Momcilovic, is the player Kentucky’s season leans on most.
Trotter put it plainly: “But Kentucky's outlook hinges on Diallo. He is UK's most important player, not Momcilovic.”
He also pointed to the financial side of the move, saying, “The money is the elephant in the room here, too. He will be one of the highest-paid point guards in the SEC.
Can he play like one of the highest-paid point guards in the SEC? Kentucky's chances to compete for the SEC crown (and more) rest on Diallo's ability to eliminate some of the F-minus plays from his portfolio.”
Diallo’s production at Washington gives Kentucky plenty to like. Last season, he averaged 15.7 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Those numbers came on a team that wasn’t very good, which is part of why the Wildcats believe he can do even more in Lexington.
He also arrives with the profile of a lead guard, and that matters for a Kentucky team looking for someone to steer the offense. Diallo averaged 2.5 turnovers per game last season, a number fans would like to see trimmed, and he wasn’t a strong three-point shooter at Washington. The hope is that he becomes more dependable from deep this year.
Momcilovic may have helped raise Kentucky’s floor, but Diallo is the kind of player who can push the ceiling higher. That’s the real argument here: if the Wildcats are going to beat expectations, Diallo has to be elite.
At the same time, he’s not the only one Kentucky needs to hit. Alex Wilkins and Malachi Moreno are also players the Wildcats need to have strong seasons from if they’re going to succeed.
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Jermaine ONeal Just Reopened One Of Kentuckys Biggest What-Ifs
In the wake of Kentuckys 1996 national championship, Jermaine ONeal was close enough to the program to make the what-if linger for years. He has said the Wildcats were his top choice, and for a moment it looked as if he might have followed that title team path to Lexington instead of taking a different road.
What changed the course was Rick Pitinos push for ONeal to chase the NBA right away, a message that came after multiple visits to his home and carried enough weight to reshape the decision. ONeal went on to be picked 17th overall in the 1996 NBA Draft and built an 18-year career, leaving Kentucky fans to wonder how different that era might have looked with one more elite big man in the fold. [Read more 🡒]
Mark Pope Just Put Kentucky In A Familiar Uncomfortable Spot
Mark Popes Kentucky program is heading into another preseason with expectations that feel both respectable and a little uneasy. Jon Rothstein has the Wildcats slotted No. 15 in his latest preseason power rankings for 2026, a number that fits the broader sense around Lexington: this is still Kentucky, but it is no longer the kind of team that can assume it will open the year near the top of the sport. Popes first two seasons have already shown how quickly the floor and ceiling can shift, with one team climbing from modest expectations into the second weekend and the next arriving with more hype before stumbling in the second round.
The bigger question now is whether this version of Kentucky can settle into the more methodical identity Pope has tried to build after the John Calipari era, or whether the program is still living in the uncomfortable middle ground between eras. The roster is not finished yet, and the recruiting picture has not exactly smoothed the transition, which only adds to the sense that Kentucky is still searching for the right balance between tradition, patience and the standard that always hangs over the program. [Read more 🡒]