After days of speculation and hope from Kentucky fans that projected lottery pick Reed Sheppard would return to Lexington for his sophomore year, he officially announced that he would be declaring for the NBA Draft on Thursday.
Now, Kentucky has just three players on its roster for the 2024-25 season — including sophomore Jordan Burks and incoming freshmen Travis Perry and Collin Chandler.
Mark Pope’s best teams have been led by strong guards and shooters — two skillsets that Kentucky now needs with the departure of Sheppard.
With thousands of players in the transfer portal and numerous major prospects still without a transfer destination, Kentucky has a few that it needs to target.
Here’s a breakdown of five point guards Kentucky should prioritize to replace Sheppard.
1. Javon Small (Junior; Oklahoma State)
Small is a well-known name in the portal after a successful first season at Oklahoma State. He’s also a name rumored to be connected to Kentucky.
The 6-foot-2 guard averagd 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game this season while shooting 37.4 percent from three.
He’s also someone who Mark Pope knows quite well as Small’s career-high was against BYU last year, with 34 points on 10-of-19 shooting and 5-of-9 from three.
Small is a true three-level scorer who is a tremendous on-ball playmaker. He is good size and strength that allows him to get to the rim at will. He’s also a very strong finisher through contact. If he’s not on the ball, however, he ranks in the 80th percentile in spot up 3s, scoring 1.09 points per possession.
He’s also a terrific playmaker for his teammates. Small had an assist rate of 26.6 percent last year which was sixth in the Big 12.
Small is a highly-desired guard but with his ability to score and play on and off the ball while making plays for teammates, he is a must target guard for Mark Pope and Kentucky.
He took a visit to Miami this week and that seems to be the team linked to him the most at this point.
2. Jeremy Roach (Senior; Duke)
Almost right after Roach entered the portal, Kentucky was a team that was rumored to be involved with him throughout his transfer process.
So far the teams tied to Roach have been Kentucky, Arkansas, St. John’s and Baylor. On Thursday night, however, it was reported by national college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman that Baylor may be the team to beat.
Why would Roach be a great fit for Kentucky? He’s a veteran who has played for a historically-rich program in Duke and is effective both on and off the ball as well.
Roach is coming off of his best season at Duke, averaging 14.0 points, 3.3 assists and shooting 42.9 percent from three. He also shot 46.8 percent from the field and 84.4 percent from the foul line on 3.5 attempts per game.
He was a Third-Team All-ACC selection this season. During Duke’s Elite Eight run in the NCAA Tournament, Roach averaged 14.0 points, 4.3 assists and shot 33 percent from three in 37 minutes a game.
We’ll see how long Roach remains uncomitted, but until he pulls the trigger, Kentucky needs to be as involved as possible.
3. Jordan Pope (Junior; Oregon State)
Need a dynamic and explosive scorer at the lead guard spot? That’s Jordan Pope.
Pope averaged 17.6 points, 3.4 assists and shot 37.1 percent from three on 2.1 made 3s a game last year. He was also very efficient, shooting 45.1 percent from the field and 50.4 percent on 2s.
Pope has good size at 6-foot-2 but isn’t incredibly built. He’s smaller in that sense but makes up for it with his quick first step and ability to get into the paint at will, shooting 59 percent at the rim.
He had 12 games with at least 20 points and had at least two made 3s in 17 games.
He has a career three-point percentage of 37.4 percent across two seasons.
Pope is a score-first type point guard who is extremely effective at all three levels. Like Javon Small, he’s a terrific scoring guard who would be able to produce right away and bring a much-needed scoring punch to Pope’s offense.
4. Chucky Hepburn (Senior; Wisconsin)
Hepburn is the newest name to enter the transfer portal, doing so on Thursday afternoon.
Hepburn played three years with Wisconsin and was never an explosive athlete, but a terrific game-manager. He averaged 9.8 points and 3.0 assists across 103 games — all starts — in his career.
Last year, Hepburn averaged 9.2 points and 3.9 assists per game.
While he shot just 32.2 percent from three last year, he’s a career 36.5 percent shooter from three and shot 40.5 percent from three as a sophomore.
The biggest question I have about Hepburn is — was his skillset decreased because of Wisconsin’s style of play?
Surrounded by the right guys — Hepburn would excel in Pope’s offense, especially with his ability to defend and get the team out in transition.
5. Jalen Blackmon (Senior; Stetson)
Blackmon is the one guard out of the group who still has questions as to whether his game will translate to the power five level or not.
Blackmon starred two years at Stetson after one year at Grand Canyon. In two seasons at Stetson, Blackmon averaged 18.5 points and shot 48.8 percent from three.
He’s not your traditional point guard or even scoring point guard like a Javon Small or Jordan Pope. Blackmon is a score first and shoot first type player. He averaged just 1.8 assists per game in his two years at Stetson.
Blackmon, however, is a lethal shooter. And, if paired with the right surrounding pieces, would be a tremendous player in Pope’s guard-first system.
Blackmon had 26 games with at least two made 3s and 14 games with at least four last year. In total, he had 20 games with at least 20 points and five 30+ point games.
His notable performance was his 43-point performance in the Conference Tournament Championship against Austin Peay, securing an NCAA Tournament bid for Stetson.
Blackmon is 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, so he’s not small by any means. He just needs to be paired with a playmaking, passing guard who can be interchangeable with Blackmon on and off the ball.