Mar 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope talks to the media during practice day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Bold predictions for the 2025-26 Kentucky basketball season

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Andrew Stefaniak | Last updated Aug 4, 2025 11:48 AM ET

Mark Pope has put together a team for the 2025-26 college basketball season that is more than capable of winning a National Title, thanks to all of the elite talent. Not only are the Wildcats talented, but they are also deep. This team is truly 14 players deep.

Knowing the Kentucky roster is this deep, it will be interesting to see who ends up cracking the starting lineup and who leads the Wildcats in all of the important statistical categories.

Knowing how good Pope's team is going to be for the 2025-26 season, let's take a look at three bold predictions.

Three bold predictions for the 2025-26 Kentucky basketball season

Jaland Lowe will lead Kentucky in scoring

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Early in the summer, there has been one player who has quickly turned heads for the Kentucky Wildcats, and that is point guard Jaland Lowe. Last season at Pitt, Lowe averaged a very inefficient 16.8 points per game to lead the Panthers in scoring. Now, Kentucky fans are wondering what he will average for Pope's team.

While Lowe was inefficient last season from the field, he is an elite scorer, and he has a real shot to dethrone Otega Oweh as the leading scorer for this team. This is not to say Oweh will have a bad season, this just means that more open looks for Lowe could lead to him scoring a lot for this team.

Jayden Quaintance will be an All-American

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The player that every member of Big Blue Nation is excited to see suit up is Arizona State transfer Jayden Quaintance. He is coming off an ACL tear, but the recovery is going well, and it sounds like he is back on the floor in some capacity.

If Quaintance is ready for game one or doesn't miss much time, he has a real shot to be an All-American. He has the capability to average a double-double and lead college hoops in blocks. If he does this, he will be one of the nation's top players.

Kam Williams starts for Kentucky and is an All-SEC selection

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One wildcard on this Kentucky basketball team is the Tulane transfer Kam Williams. At 6'8 Williams is a sharpshooter who will be elite in a three and D role for the Wildcats.

Williams is still developing the rest of his game, but he has a ton of NBA upside, which is why some mock drafts have him as a first-round pick. There is a world where Williams starts for this team, and if he shoots the ball well, he could be an All-SEC selection.

This article first appeared on Kentucky Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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