Trent Noah is making noise again in Lexington, and this time the buzz sounds a lot like the one Kentucky fans were hearing a year ago.
Last offseason, Noah’s shot-making was one of the biggest talking points out of summer practices. Jaland Lowe, then Kentucky’s point guard, went as far as calling him “the best shooter I’ve ever seen.”
But once the games started, that practice reputation didn’t fully carry over. Noah wrapped up the season averaging 3.0 points per game while shooting 36% from the field and 33% from 3-point range.
Even so, Noah has remained a player Kentucky fans have latched onto. He wasn’t recruited by the previous staff in Lexington, but Mark Pope came after him quickly after taking over two offseasons ago.
Noah flipped from South Carolina right away and has stayed put since. There have been flashes, too, including an 11-point game against Tennessee during his freshman season.
Now heading into his third year, the hope around Noah is simple: take the next step, earn real minutes, and become a bigger part of the rotation. Pope sounds like he’s already convinced that’s coming.
In a recent conversation with Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, Pope singled Noah out as one of the players standing out in summer work.
“Probably the guy that’s getting talked about the least that is showing out right now is Trent Noah,” Pope stated. “He is physical, and he can really shoot it.
Part of the issue last year was when we lost our point guard spot, and we lost a real creator vibe on our roster. It hurt guys like Trent, who might not manufacture a lot of shots.
“But if shots can be manufactured for him, he’s going to make them all it feels like.”
That setup matters for Noah. He’s expected to slide into more of a shooting guard role, which should give him cleaner chances to get his shot off.
Kentucky has plenty of bodies on the wing and in the frontcourt, with Milan Momcilovic, Justin McBride, Ousmane N’Diaye, Kam Williams, and Braydon Hawthorne all in the mix for minutes there. Noah’s path is different: play with two elite creators, space the floor, and let the offense find him.
There’s help around him, too. Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins both did plenty of creating last season, with Diallo averaging 4.5 assists per game and Wilkins averaging 4.7. Veteran guard Jerone Morton is also part of that picture, along with freshman guard Mason Williams, who is starting to emerge.
Pope added another detail that only adds to the optimism: Kentucky currently has six players who are over 70% in all of their practice reps shooting the ball from 3-point range. Noah is presumably one of them.
After a season where the production never quite matched the practice hype, the setup around Noah looks a lot friendlier now. And if Pope is right, the leap Kentucky has been waiting for might finally be on the way.
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