UK's Pro Day event featured a sneak peek at what to expect from the Cats this season. Here are a few key takeaways on some players who will be crucial to the team's success.
Preseason predictions for the SEC men’s basketball standings have arrived, and Kentucky did not make the top tier.
The Wildcats came in at No. 7 in the predicted order of finish released by the league Monday afternoon. The predictions came from “a select panel of both SEC and national media members,” according to the release from the conference.
UK is entering its third season under head coach Mark Pope, who has guided the Cats to 10-8 league records in each of his first two years on the job. Kentucky tied for seventh in the SEC regular season standings in 2025-26 and tied for sixth in the conference in Pope’s first year.
The 2026-27 roster consists of a projected starting lineup featuring highly touted transfers Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins and Milan Momcilovic, with international addition Ousmane N’Diaye at power forward and returning big man Malachi Moreno at the center spot.
Kentucky is expected to be ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 when that poll is released in the coming days, but it’s clearly going to be another challenging year in the conference. The most recent ESPN Bracketology update has 12 SEC programs in the 76-team field, with Ole Miss among the first four left out of that bracket.
Florida is expected to be the preseason No. 1 team nationally and occupied the top spot in the SEC predictions released Monday.
The Gators will bring back the frontcourt of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu, along with the return of former UK player Denzel Aberdeen to complement a backcourt that also includes Boogie Fland and Urban Klavzar, two more key returnees from last season.
Texas was No. 2 in the SEC predicted order of finish, with Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama rounding out the top five and Vanderbilt ranked sixth in the league, one spot ahead of Kentucky.
Missouri was listed at No. 8, followed by No. 9 Auburn, No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 11 Georgia, No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 14 LSU, No. 15 Mississippi State and No. 16 South Carolina.
Two UK players earned preseason All-SEC honors. Momcilovic was a second-team selection, and Moreno was a third-team choice.
Haugh was named the SEC preseason player of the year, with Chinyelu joining him on the first team alongside Tennessee transfer Juke Harris, Mississippi State returnee Josh Hubbard and Vanderbilt point guard Tyler Tanner.
The annual SEC Media Days event is set for Tuesday and Wednesday in Birmingham, with Pope scheduled to take the podium at 1:20 p.m. ET Wednesday.
Kentucky will play its exhibition opener against Little Rock at 7 p.m. Friday in Rupp Arena.
Ben Roberts launched Inside Kentucky Basketball in 2026 to bring a source of independent and objective coverage of the Cats to UK fans. He spent 20 years at the Lexington Herald-Leader, including four seasons as UK men's basketball beat writer.
