Alex Wilkins on Kentucky's defense: 'Don't sleep on our defense'

Today, the media had the opportunity to speak with Alex Wilkins, and he had a lot of wonderful things to say. He answered questions about his comparison to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and some other topics about how he plans to improve his game this offseason.

One question that I asked Wilkins was about how, with all of the elite offensive weapons this team has, will it make things easier for him to score. He went on to give me a great answer about how players like Milan Momcilovic, Malachi Moreno, and Zoom Diallo will make the offense really easy for him, but his quote at the end was what had me the most excited. After talking about the offensive question, Wilkins made sure to talk about this team’s defense.

Here is what Wilkins had to say about Kentucky’s defense: “Don’t sleep on our defense. We’ve been working really hard. We’re really long, so we will be in a lot of passing lanes. We will be defending.”

All of Big Blue Nation agrees that this offense is going to be really good this season. Kentucky has a ton of shooters and guys who can finish at the rim. This will fit Pope’s offensive style really well. What Pope needs for this team to increase their ceiling is a good defense. Some fans question how good the defense will be this season, but the players are very confident.

Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope calls a play during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Every player that the media has had the opportunity to speak with over the last few weeks has made it a point to talk about how long this team is and how good they will be on the defensive end of the floor. Over the last handful of Kentucky basketball seasons, there have been some years where the Wildcats are elite on offense but struggle to defend. Some members of BBN are worried that this season’s team will be no different.

Clearly, the players don’t believe this is the case, and they are taking a lot of pride in the defense they are playing. If the defense is just good for the Wildcats, this season they will be a top ten team in the KenPom rankings. Pope needs to keep preaching high-intensity defense, and if his team can do that, the Wildcats are in for a very good season.

Add us as a preferred source on Google