Tre Mitchell shares initial feelings on being at Kentucky

After a rocky offseason for West Virginia, forward Tre Mitchell elected to enter into the NCAA transfer portal. Mitchell went in as a Mountaineer and came out on the other side as a Kentucky Wildcat.

Currently, Kentucky is preparing for the GLOBL JAM event being held in Canada. While the Wildcats players are preparing for their upcoming July 12 matchup against Germany, the team at On3’s KSR spoke with some players, including Mitchell. And during the brief interaction, the new Wildcats forward shared his initial feelings about being at Kentucky.

“You know it speaks for itself,” said Mitchell. “Kentucky basketball has always been something that has stood out to me as a player. I’ve just been through a kind of a different route in my life to get me here. But at the end of the day, once I entered my name in the portal and Coach Cal reached out, it’s the kind of an opportunity that’s hard to pass up on.”

Mitchell has been a bit of a journeyman in his collegiate basketball career. Before heading to Kentucky this off season, he had played for three schools prior: UMass, Texas, and the previously mentioned West Virginia.
Last season with the Mountaineers, Mitchell was a starter in 32 of the 34 games he played. The six-foot-nine forward went on to finish the year averaging 11.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.

Mitchell has a prime opportunity with Kentucky to increase his draft stock next season. Given his experience and the fact that former Kentucky star forward Oscar Tshiebwe is now and the pros, Mitchell has an opportunity to carve out some quality playing time for the Wildcats next season.

Rob Dillingham shares Kentucky’s excitement to ‘finally’ face other teams

The team at KSR also caught up with star freshman guard Rob Dillingham as well. The freshman combo guard discussed what his first offseason with the Wildcats has been like, and what he’s excited for next.

One of the things Dillingham highlighted is how competitive it has been, and that has led to excitement amongst the players to finally get the chance to face off against other opponents.

“For sure. We definitely chopping at it ’cause we’ve been playing each other every day. We’re competitive. Every time Coach Cal tries to stop it, we tell him we want to keep playing. So, it’s just definitely competitive, and we all love playing together, so we want to play against other teams finally,” said Dillingham.

Dillingham was the No. 15 nationally ranked player in the 2023 recruiting class, according to On3’s Industry Ranking. The Charlotte, NC, native spent one season with the Overtime Elite League before joining head coach John Calipari at Kentucky.

With the Overtime Elite, Dillingham played for the Cold Hearts, where he had a respectable 2022-2023 season. He averaged 14.7 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game in the regular season.