Trent Noah says Kentucky fans will 'fall in love' with next season's team

Kentucky basketball began summer practices inside the Joe Craft Center this week, but the team-building has been going on for weeks ever since the players arrived on campus. The players are starting to get a feel for each other, and returning sophomore forward Trent Noah opened up on his early impressions of the squad when talking with media on Monday.

The Kentucky staff brought in seven transfers to go along with three returning players and three freshman. With all of the newcomers on the team, it's important to build that chemistry early, and after the first practice on Monday, Noah says Kentucky fans will fall in love with the team, just like they did with Mark Pope's first squad.

"Practice was this morning, we had skill groups. So, we got up early, got up at it, and it was a good first day getting everybody acclimated to the system and stuff like that, so, yeah it was definitely a good day one. ...The past couple weeks it's really just been a lot of team-building. We've had a lot of off the court activities and stuff like that. We did a lot of testing, kind of get a baseline for everything and then now, it's the start of week one, so now it's ramping up. Early impression, I mean, I feel like it'll be just like last year. I think BBN will fall in love with the new guys especially. Coach Pope brung in excellent human beings once again, so that always makes it even better and more enjoyable to play with."Noah on practice, next season's team.

Mark Pope's incoming players aren't just great human beings, but they're good players, too, as the transfer class was recently ranked #2 in the country by ESPN, with St. John's just 'narrowly' getting the top spot, all because of the uncertainty around big man Jayden Quaintance's health. Pope and the staff were successful at constructing next season's roster, and on paper, it seems to be built around returning star guard Otega Oweh, who has received some buzz recently for a potential All-American season on the horizon. There are complimentary pieces everywhere on the roster, with more of an emphasis on athleticism and defense than last season.

The 2025-26 Kentucky squad will contnue to build chemistry through the summer, but Noah is already liking what he's seeing just as summer practices begin.