Kentucky guard Collin Chandler (5) hits a three-point basket during the first half of their second round NCAA men’ s basketball tournament game against Illinois Sunday, March 23, 2025 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mark Pope details Kentucky's shooting improvements this summer

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Wyatt Huff | Last updated Sep 17, 2025 7:30 AM ET

Entering this season, there has been a lot of talk this off-season about Kentucky's three-point shooting because on paper, it seems like there will be a drop-off in that department this season after the roster was filled with shooters last season. It begs that question, and rightfully so about if fans should be concerned with Kentucky's shooting heading into the season.

Kentucky's best shooters heading into the season are likely to be Kam Williams and Trent Noah. Williams shot 41.2 percent from deep last season at Tulane, and as for Noah, he shot 35 percent off the bench for the WIldcats, but is looking to boost his percentage this season. Not only that, but some of his teammates call Noah the best shooter on the team. Kentucky also has freshman guard Jasper Johnson as one of the potential top shooters, who shot the ball at 36.3 percent from three last season at OTE. Aside from that, Kentucky will need to see more efficiency in that area, especially if they want to meet the same standard from last season.

Jovanny Hernandez / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mark Pope was on The Field of 68 Podcast on Tuesday where he was asked about the team's shooting, and his comments should ease Kentucky fans' concerns heading into the season.

"We track every shot everyday in practice all summer long. If you looked at where our guys were week three of the summer, you might've been like, woof, I'm not sure if we're gonna break that record, but as of today, last week's work on-court, we had six guys above 70-percent. We were dancing around with two (players), trying to get to a third earlier in the summer. Now we have six and we have a seventh that's been dancing at 69-percent, 68-percent for like three-straight weeks. We're gonna have seven guys over 70-percent. That translates to a game. It always has for us."

Who has been standing out as one of those 70-percent shooters? Pope mentioned Jasper Johnson, who is looking to become a consistent shooter as an already dangerous scorer. "We've had really humble guys that have been willing to just take our very basic, but important shooting cues and actually incorporate them the way they do. Jasper Johnson for the first time was a 70 (percent shooter). I've always talked about him as the most dangerous scorer, wait until this guy's consistent."

If Kentucky can continue to get more and more players to become effiicient shooters, that will solve a preseason concern that many people have with this Kentucky team.

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

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