Kentucky basketball position preview, Part 1: What to expect from the guards

This is the first installment of a three-part series breaking down expectations across the positional spectrum for the Kentucky Wildcats going into the 2026-27 season.

And it begins with the guards, a group that has led to much consternation for Mark Pope over his first two years as UK’s head coach.

After Pope’s top three options at the point guard spot all suffered serious injuries in Year 1 on the job, he lost Jaland Lowe, the team’s clear PG1, to a shoulder injury last fall, a setback that ultimately limited Lowe to only nine appearances as a Wildcat and left a major hole in UK’s lineup.

Vowing not to be left shorthanded again, Pope made finding “creators” his top priority during the spring. Here’s what Kentucky’s backcourt will look like this season:

Zoom Diallo

Class: Junior

Last season: 15.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 29.6 minutes per game at Washington

What to expect: Mark Pope needed a starting point guard in the transfer portal, and he landed one of the best available players at the position.

Diallo, a McDonald’s All-American in high school, spent the past two seasons at Washington, where he established himself as a capable starter at the high-major level. 247Sports ranked him as the No. 28 overall transfer in America during the offseason — second among UK newcomers on that list, behind only All-America candidate Milan Momcilovic — and he’ll bring a skill set to Lexington that features some notable flaws but also a ceiling that has clearly yet to be reached.

Even in Pope’s share-the-ball-happy offensive system, Diallo should get plenty of usage. The 6-foot-6, 195-pound guard is a strong, athletic and determined driver with a knack for using his body to find or create lanes to the rim. He’s also a willing passer.

As a sophomore last season, Diallo ranked in the top 25 nationally in assist rate among power conference players, and he’s come to Kentucky, in part, to show that he can run a high-octane offense and deliver winning results for a blue-blood program.

Pope likes to have as many shooters as possible on the floor at once, and that’s one area in which Diallo has yet to break out. He shot just 31.5% from 3-point range last season on 2.2 attempts per game. He was an 82.5% free throw shooter (126 attempts), however, so perhaps there’s room for growth from the perimeter. Still, he’s not expected to be a high-volume shooter.

His biggest knock offensively has been his tendency to turn the ball over. Diallo ranked top 25 in turnovers per game (2.5) among all power conference players last season, and while his turnover rate improved slightly from his freshman (18.9%) to sophomore (17.8%) year, that is likely to be the biggest area of focus for improvement.

Defensively, he’s never been regarded as a true stopper, but there are tools to like there, as well. He has the length and athleticism to be a solid defender, and his comments over the course of the summer suggest a player with a chip on his shoulder regarding his reputation on the defensive end. Diallo does sound motivated to step it up defensively. Will that be enough?

Another criticism that Diallo is well aware of: he’s never played for a winner.

Washington went 16-17 (7-13 Big Ten) last season and 13-18 (4-16) the year before that, and Diallo was in the starting lineup for 51 games over that stretch. He wants to prove he can be the starting point guard on a winning team, and he’ll get his chance this season.

It became clear over the course of the eight-week summer practice session that Diallo has established himself as the vocal leader of these Wildcats, with newcomers and returnees alike praising his approach on and off the court. 

Pope will rely heavily on Diallo, who turns 21 years old the day before the regular season opener, and, in many ways, the direction of Kentucky’s season could hinge on his performance as both a point guard and the team’s loudest voice on the court.

Alex Wilkins

Class: Sophomore

Last season: 17.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 29.7 minutes per game at Furman

What to expect: While Diallo is penciled in as the starting point guard in Pope’s lineup, Wilkins (an on-ball-heavy player last season) should still get plenty of touches in his first year as a Wildcat.

Pope’s first order of business in the transfer portal was to make sure he had options at the lead guard spot after two seasons of misfortune there. The result was landing Diallo and Wilkins in relatively short order.

While some analysts have questioned the logic of putting two high-usage players in a system that, at its best, features much more passing than dribbling to create good looks, Pope wanted at least two capable starting point guards on his roster, and pairing Diallo and Wilkins together (both are expected to start) could lead to plenty of entertainment on the offensive end.

Wilkins finished top 10 nationally in “percentage of possessions used” last season, three spots ahead of BYU’s AJ Dybantsa (the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft) in that stat. He had the ball in his hands a lot at Furman, and he was given plenty of freedom to play through mistakes, of which there were many.

Though Wilkins had a 34.2% assist rate as a freshman (32nd nationally among all players), he also had a 22.3% turnover rate and finished No. 4 in the country with 3.8 turnovers per game, another reason that his pairing with the turnover-prone Diallo raised some eyebrows during the offseason.

Pope seems unconcerned by Wilkins’ first-year miscues. His reputation as Furman’s do-everything offensive threat led opposing defenses to hound him relentlessly, and he did show improvement in his decision making over the course of that freshman season. The hope on UK’s end is that putting him on the court with more talented players will alleviate some of that pressure and open up Wilkins’ game even more.

As the “shooting guard” in Pope’s projected starting lineup, Wilkins will need to show more from the perimeter, especially with Diallo in the other guard spot. Wilkins shot 32.8% from deep last season, but there’s reason to believe that rate should improve. 

Some of his catch-and-shoot metrics suggest he could thrive getting shots off in that manner, and the opportunities to do so should be abundant this season, along with the added space that will come with sharing the court with other offensive threats. He also shot 82.4% on 142 free throws as a freshman.

Defense could be an issue. While Wilkins has plenty of length in his 6-6 frame, he’s listed at just 170 pounds, a self-described “skinny” player who knows he’ll need to gain strength to hit his ceiling.

Pope isn’t holding back with his vision of what that ceiling could be. The UK coach said in a summer interview that Wilkins gave him “SGA vibes” — a reference to ex-Cat and two-time reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — and simply watching the way Wilkins works with the ball in his hands will tell you why. He’s plenty shifty, with a knack for creating space.

He also carries a confidence that is apparent on and off the court. Among UK’s backcourt players, no one has more upside than Wilkins, who should thrill fans plenty with his offensive ability this season. 

He’s a potential breakout star for the Cats (perhaps even a first-round NBA pick in 2027) but he’ll have to check a lot of boxes first. Can Wilkins prove to be a better decision-maker with the ball while making the most of his unique role in Pope’s offense and show progress as a defender? 

If he can, UK’s immediate future will be that much brighter. If he’s still a year (or more) away from truly approaching that potential, it could make for a frustrating and inconsistent season.

Mason Williams

Class: Freshman

Last season: 15.1 points, 5.3 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game in high school

What to expect: When Williams first joined the program shortly after the end of the 2025-26 season, there weren’t many expectations at all for immediate contribution.

The 6-3, 210-pound point guard was the No. 126 overall player in the 247Sports recruiting rankings for the 2026 class, and in an era of plug-and-play transfer portal veterans, it appeared unlikely he’d find the court much at all as a freshman.

And then came summer practice.

Williams was arguably the buzziest player on the team during those eight weeks. A son of new assistant coach Mo Williams (a former NBA All-Star at the guard spot), the teenager wowed teammates, coaches and others in attendance with his steady, confident play right off the bat.

While Williams doesn’t have the length of Diallo or Wilkins, his strong, bulky frame and accompanying approach with the ball allows him to make space, and his high basketball IQ pays off with decision making that’s impressive for a freshman point guard.

Williams’ penchant for being in the right positions and making good reads on and off the ball led Pope to praise him plenty over the summer. And what was originally seen as the addition of a long-term prospect (or, even more cynically, a way to get his NBA-veteran father in the program) now looks like a potential recruiting coup.

Make no mistake, Diallo is PG1 on this roster, and Wilkins will be PG2, even if he starts at the 2 spot. But, with Williams, it appears Pope has found a legitimate third option at the point guard position for those occasions in which the other two need a breather at the same time, foul trouble arises or (gulp) another injury occurs in UK’s backcourt.

After all of the bad luck that Pope has had with his point guards so far at Kentucky, having three who are capable of playing meaningful minutes would surely be cause for relief. And Williams looks like a player capable of playing meaningful minutes right off the bat.

Jerone Morton

Class: Senior

Last season: 7.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 25.0 minutes per game at Washington State

What to expect: Another offseason acquisition who was viewed as a depth piece, at best, at the time of his commitment, Morton has emerged from the summer as a Wildcat who might have more to offer on the court.

His overall production will be reliant on a return to full health after UK’s announcement two weeks ago that Morton is dealing with a knee issue that has sidelined him from fall practice. He’s scheduled to be re-evaluated in the next few days, and whatever comes of that checkup will shed more light on his availability in the early going.

If he’s good to go, he should fight for playing time.

The Lexington native is a former standout at nearby Clark County, which he led to the 2022 state title, winning Sweet 16 MVP honors in the process. Those local connections led many to think he wasn’t much more than a roster-filler when Pope landed him in the spring.

His performance over the eight weeks of summer practice changed that calculus.

Morton quickly drew praise from new teammates, including Diallo and Wilkins, for his tenacity as an on-ball defender and all-around hardworking style. At 6-4 and 200 pounds, Morton isn’t the tallest or biggest player in UK’s backcourt, but his relentless approach stood out immediately.

Pope’s staff kept a running tally on the team’s “Winners Board” over the eight-week summer session, with each player from the winning team in live-ball 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 scrimmages getting a point. At the end of the final practice of the summer, Morton’s name was No. 1 on the board, with Diallo, Milan Momcilovic and Malachi Moreno (perhaps the three most established players on the roster) next in the standings going into the day.

If that defensive prowess is legitimate and not simply a result of small sample size, Morton could carve out a meaningful role for a team that is expected to face some struggles on that end of the floor.

Morton isn’t expected to be much of a scorer against the best competition he’ll face this season. He averaged 10.4 points per game as a sophomore at Morehead State before scoring 7.8 points per game as a starter in his lone season at Washington State, which had a 12-20 overall record, a 7-11 mark in the West Coast Conference and didn’t beat a single KenPom top 100 team.

While the offensive track record is largely unremarkable (relative to SEC-level play) Morton did shoot 38.7% on 80 3-point attempts last season and 37.7% on 77 perimeter shots as a sophomore. So he could at least be a floor-spacer, if Pope does find some meaningful time for him.

If the Cats need an infusion of energy off the bench, don’t be surprised if the UK coach turns to Morton, who could work himself into the rotation by delivering results early in the season. But he has to get healthy first.

Zyon Hawthorne

Class: Freshman

Last season: 11.2 points, 7.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game in high school

What to expect: The younger brother of promising UK wing Braydon Hawthorne and a lifelong Kentucky basketball fan, Zyon Hawthorne was a surprise addition to the roster during the offseason.

The younger Hawthorne had an impressive prep career in West Virginia, finishing up at Huntington Prep and earning the reputation as a solid facilitator, but he is not expected to play a meaningful role as a freshman with the Wildcats.

Recent changes to NCAA rules allow college coaches to fill 15 scholarship spots, reforms that will effectively eliminate the “walk-on” tag moving forward. That likely would have been Hawthorne’s designation under the old system, and it was notable that when Pope had 11 fully active players at the end of the summer practice session, Hawthorne was more often than not the Wildcat watching 5-on-5 scrimmages from the sidelines.

At the very least, he will be a player who can fill in at a guard spot during UK’s practices in the event that injuries or illness force other players off the court. Barring a surprise, any game time he sees this season is likely to come with a lopsided score and little time on the clock.

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