Mark Pope expects a big jump from Kentucky's returning players

In this day and age of college basketball with NIL promises at every turn, getting players to return to your school is even more of a win than in past years. That's exactly what Kentucky is going to get next season, which is something they did not have last season after Mark Pope and the staff had to build an entire roster through the transfer portal.

With the returning players that include Brandon Garrison, Trent Noah, Collin Chandler and an expected return for Otega Oweh, who is testing the NBA Draft process, Pope expects a big jump from all of them. He talked about that in an interview with CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein earlier this week as well as discussing the importance of roster continuity.

"I think (roster continuity) is a big key to success, and there's nothing like getting older with your own guys, right? The second thing is, my guys, traditionally my guys in their second year take a massive leap. ...We’re such a read-based offense, and in parts defense, where our guys are the deciders on the floor. ...They’re not looking over at me. ...We coach them to coach each other and communicate with each other. So, with a year under your belt now, now you’re coming in not to learn the game or do the game, but you come in actually starting to play the game and trick up the game and use all these actions and manipulate them in creative ways. And that’s where the game gets incredibly fun. So these second-year guys are going to be really key for us."
Pope on his returning players.

Pope expects Brandon Garrison, Trent Noah and Collin Chandler in the interview as players he expects to take massive leaps, with some high praise for Garrison saying the big man is 'hungry' right now and 'ready to emerge as a superstar.' The head coach loves the strides that Chandler and Noah made in their freshman season last year, which is why he is expecting big leaps from the two.

Kentucky fans should be excited about the continuity mixed with the incoming transfers and freshmen. With a year in Mark Pope's system, it's not hard to expect some jumps from Kentucky's returners. Check out Pope's full interview with Rothstein below.