Takeaways from Kentucky basketball's Pro Day

These things stood out during the drills and scrimmage at Kentucky's Pro Day.

Author:
Andrew Stefaniak
Publish date:
Oct 11, 2023 7:31 PM EDT

In this story:

On Wednesday night, Kentucky basketball hosted their annual Basketball Pro Day, where NBA scouts from all 30 NBA teams come to Lexington to get a sneak peek of the Cats.

This is an excellent opportunity for the Kentucky players to show off what they have before the season begins.

It also serves as a final tune-up before Big Blue Madness, where all of Big Blue Nation will first get to see this team.

Let's take a look at some of my takeaways/thoughts from Kentucky's Pro Day scrimmage and drills.

Takeaways/Thoughts from Pro Day

Ugonna Onyenso and Aaron Bradshaw both went through pre-game warmups but didn't participate in anything else. On the broadcast Coach Cal said these two would be out another five or six weeks.

Coach Calipari then discussed how Zvonimir Ivisic will be in Lexington tomorrow.

The first thing that stood out during the drills was how fast DJ Wagner was; during some warmup sprints, he finished first each time.

In early drills, Antonio Reeves, DJ Wagner, Rob Dillingham, and Reed Sheppard all shot the ball well.

Justin Edwards and Tre Mitchell also looked good shooting the ball in the early drills.

Edwards's jump shot looks much more crisp right now than it did in Canada.

Adou Thiero missed some shots during the drills but is moving fast and looking very athletic. He can absolutely jump out of the gym.

Edwards has gotten to the rim in many creative ways. Early in the scrimmage, he missed a layup he should have made, then made a dunk. He needs to finish plays like this in the season, but he looks great getting to the cup.

Dillingham has looked even more shifty than anticipated, scoring around the rim and also made some mid-range jumpers.

Midway through the scrimmage, Adou Thiero walked off the court with a visible limp. He rolled his ankle, grabbing a rebound. Not much long-term concern here, but something to monitor.

Tre Mitchell looks really solid rebounding right now, both on offense and defense. This will be big for the Cats if Onyenso and Bradshaw are out long-term.

Jordan Burks looked a lot better today than he did in Canada. It seems like a few more months in a college weight room has served him well.

He grabbed an offensive rebound and then put it back up for two, drawing a high five from Coach Cal.

Sheppard has once again proven that he is much more than a shooter, as he has played suffocating defense and passed the ball well.

Watch out for Sheppard, as the NBA scouts are surely impressed with what they have seen tonight.

Joey Hart made a few contested threes and could be another guy who could help this team in a pinch.

Wagner just dropped an absolute DIME to Burks. Watching Wagner early in this game, he definitely isn't just a scorer.

The team is shooting around, getting ready to play another scrimmage, and Burks is just making three after three. He might be the biggest positive surprise to me at this point.

Edwards is diving all over the place. Lots of fight and effort from this young man. Doing this in the season will quickly make him a fan favorite.

Mitchell made a few nice moves down low and scored. He will fill in well at the 4/5 while the Cats await the return of Bradshaw and Onyenso. He has cleaned up offensive rebounds and scored multiple times in the scrimmage.