How should Mark Pope use the final available roster spot Kentucky has?

Mark Pope can add another player to the Kentucky roster.

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope calls out to the team during the Kentucky Blue-White preseason event on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024 at the Memorial Coliseum. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Mark Pope did a very good job putting this roster together this offseason, adding some great players via the transfer portal. The player who really put this offseason over the edge was the addition of Milan Momcilovic. He has really raised the ceiling and floor for this Kentucky team. The Wildcats are going to be much better than last season this year, but Pope has more work to do.

He does have one more roster spot to use if he wants to, and from everything Coach Pope has said, I expect him to use that spot. For a while, BBN was hoping that spot would be used on Serbian star Nikola Kusturica, but now it seems that unless something crazy happens, he will be heading to UCLA.

The Kentucky Wildcat entertaining the crowd against Texas A & M in Rupp Arena. Nov. 10, 2023 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Now Coach Pope is back to the drawing boards, and the question is how he should use this final roster spot? There are a lot of different directions he could go with this roster spot. Coach Pope could add depth to the backcourt or go add another member of the frontcourt.

For a while, I felt that Coach Pope should use that spot on a backup guard, but it sounds like Mason Williams is taking off and will be an asset for the Wildcats off the bench at the one. Knowing this, I feel a lot better about guard depth and feel that Coach Pope should use the extra roster spot on the frontcourt.

Specifically, I feel Coach Pope should go and get another backup center to play behind Malachi Moreno. The Wildcats have Franck Kepnang. If the Washington transfer Kepnang is able to stay on the floor, he is the perfect center to back up Moreno, but that is a big if. During his very long college basketball career, Kepnang just hasn’t been able to stay healthy.

Washington Huskies center Franck Kepnang (11) celebrates a defensive play during the second half of their game in the Acrisure Series in Palm Desert, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Coach Pope has held him out of summer practice to let him be at 100% for the start of the season, and this is a good plan. The reality is if Kepnang goes down this season, the Wildcats will have a big struggle at the five. This is why it makes sense to use the final spot on this roster to add a center as an insurance policy for Kepnang.

This player will more than likely have to come from outside of the country, as there aren’t any players left in the portal who would be a big help to Coach Pope. This will be something to monitor over the coming months.

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