Feb 8, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope smiles as he watches the action during the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

College basketball analytics predict Kentucky's top five offensive and defensive players

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Andrew Stefaniak | Last updated Sep 15, 2025 2:45 PM ET

Last year, in year one of the Mark Pope era, the Wildcats were not a very balanced team, as they were elite on offense, but the defensive end was a big struggle. This offseason, Coach Pope went out of his way to recruit players who are going to give the Wildcats a better defense while still being an elite offensive team.

After searching the transfer portal and the globe, Coach Pope was able to get this done as his team could even be better on defense than it is on offense.

It is very important to be balanced on offense and defense in the KenPom rankings, and that was not the case last season. The hope is that this season, the Wildcats will have a top 15 offense and defense in KenPom. If this is the case, history says that the Kentucky Wildcats have a chance to win the NCAA Tournament.

EvanMiya.com put out their ratings for each Kentucky player, and this will give fans a feel for who they believe will be good on each end of the floor.

Let's take a look at the top five offensive and defensive rated Kentucky Wildcats according to EvanMiya.com.

Kentucky's top five offensive and defensive players according to EvanMiya.com

Offense

Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Jaland Lowe: 3.49
Otega Oweh: 2.88
Brandon Garrison: 2.87
Mo Dioubate: 2.56
Jasper Johnson: 1.63

The big takeaway on the offensive ratings was how low Denzel Aberdeen's rating was. Aberdeen's rating was a 1.32, which was tenth on the team. As a role player off the bench for the Florida Gators last season, Aberdeen showed a lot of flashes, and he is going to have an elite offensive season for the Kentucky Wildcats in the starting lineup. Aberdeen has proven in a small sample size to be a great scorer and this season he can showcase that skill.

Defense

Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jayden Quaintance: 3.96
Mo Dioubate: 3.56
Otega Oweh: 3.48
Brandon Garrison: 2.89
Jaland Lowe: 1.87

The surprise takeaway from the defensive rating was how low Collin Chandler was. Last season, Chandler proved down the stretch of the season that he is going to be an elite defender, but his rating was a 0.32, which was 12th on the team. Chandler is going to be a much better defender than this rating makes him seem.

All of these numbers are computer-generated so some of the thought is that things will move in the right direction for players like Aberdeen and Chandler once the season starts. Analytics aren't everything, but they do like the Kentucky Wildcats heading into the 2025-26 season.

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

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