In just his third year as Kentucky’s head coach, Rick Pitino’s 1991-92 squad set the record for most 3-point attempts in a single season. Led by Jamal Mashburn, Richie Farmer, John Pelphrey, Deron Feldhaus, and Dale Brown, each of whom hoisted over 125 shots from deep that season, the 1991-92 Wildcats shot a record-setting 888 shots from 3. The 3-point line had only existed in college basketball for five years, but an innovative Pitino-led team took advantage of the relatively new feature and set a school-best mark that has stood for 33 seasons.
Mark Pope’s 2024-25 Kentucky Wildcats are going to utterly annihilate that record.
Last year, BYU led the country in 3-point attempts, shooting 32 per game for a grand total of 1088 throughout their season. That is 200 more than Kentucky’s school record, and there is good reason to think Pope is not changing his philosophy now that he coaches at his alma mater.
Kentucky released footage from the team’s first summer practice with the new head coach mic’d up. As he addressed his players, Pope said, “If every possession we get a catch-and-shoot 3, we’ll take it.”
He did not stop there. That statement came at the tail end of explaining his transition offense philosophy where he said, “Catch-and-shoot 3s, we want them in transition every time.”
Every time? Every possession? Big Blue Nation, prepare yourself for an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of 3s this year.
Kentucky will have the personnel to beat the record
The early 1990s Pitino teams hold the top four spots in Kentucky history for most 3-point attempts in a season. However, last year’s team is 5th on that list at 800 3s attempted.
They could have broken the record if they played more than two postseason games. (Apologies. My still-disgruntled inner monologue comes out from time to time.)
Anyway, last year’s team featured a trio of some of the best 3-point shooters in program history including Reed Sheppard, Antonio Reeves, and Rob Dillingham, only one of which started. (Dang it, I did it again.)
This year might not debut any lottery-picks, but there are a host of formidable shooters up and down the roster. At the top of that list is Koby Brea, who shot a remarkable 49.8 percent from deep last season for Dayton. Kerr Kriisa is another guy who can fill it up from outside, as he shot 42.4 percent from behind the arc last year at West Virginia.
Jaxson Robinson, who played for Pope Last year at BYU and might be the Wildcats’ leading scorer this season, shot 35.4 percent from 3 a year ago.
In addition to those names at the top of the roster, players who could come in off the bench like Ansley Almonor, shot 39.4 percent for Fairleigh Dickinson last season, while freshmen Trent Noah and Travis Perry 43 percent and 42 percent, respectively, in high school.
Kentucky will take a lot of 3s, but will they make a lot?
Ultimately, it is one thing to take a bunch of 3s, it is another thing to make them. Not to echo the famous words of the former guy, but is this year’s team going to have a lot of shooters or a lot of makers?
For what it is worth, Cameron Mills, who knows a thing or two about making 3s in a Kentucky uniform, confirmed he saw “A LOT of made 3s” when he attended practice. And a legend of the program giving us vague positivity from one summer session is exactly the kind of confirmation I need to feel confident that these guys might not miss a single 3-pointer this season.
Having said that, the record-setting 1991-92 Kentucky Wildcats shot 35.7 percent as a team, last year’s BYU squad shot 32.7 percent, and last year’s Kentucky team shot 40.9 percent.
In reality, it will be difficult to reach the 40 percent milestone, but if this rendition of the ‘Cats can flirt with the high 30s in percent makes, it will be able to beat any team in the country, especially if they end up shooting close to 1000 total 3s, as I am not-so-boldly predicting.
Mark Pope holds his old coach, Rick Pitino, in the highest regard, so it will feel that much better for him when he breaks his record. While he’s at it, he may as well beat that team’s 29-7 record and Elite Eight appearance as well.
