4-Point Play: What Ansley Almonor's commitment means for Kentucky

And then there were 11, another Cody Fueger ‘boom’ turning into another commitment for Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats. This time, it’s Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Ansley Almonor, who arrived in Lexington for a visit on Tuesday and is leaving Thursday signed with the program.

The 6-7 forward out of New York chose Kentucky over Siena, Pepperdine and Iona, opting for the blue blood over mid-major interest — and a secondary role over becoming a star, the perfect complementary piece for the Wildcats as Pope looks to round out his debut roster.

What is Almonor bringing to the table in Lexington? Let’s break it down today on 4-Point Play.

A backup stretch four

Almonor has worked his way up the production ladder at Fairleigh Dickinson, putting up 3.5 points and 1.7 rebounds per game as a freshman in 2021-22, followed by 13.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest a year later in ’22-23. He then broke through as a junior in ’23-24, racking up career highs of 16.4 points and 5.1 rebounds on an impressive 39.4% from three in 32.0 minutes per contest. And he found that efficiency on an absurd 7.4 attempts per game from beyond the arc.

It’s exactly what the doctor ordered, Pope finding the one depth piece he was looking for when the scholarship numbers started dwindling down in recent weeks.

“We’ll probably try to add one more really, really shot-driven piece on that frontline, maybe somebody that will feel like a four or three. We’ll see,” Pope said. “We’re trying to fill that space right now.”

How about a guy who knocked down at least three 3-pointers in 18 of 32 games played this past season for the Knights, including four with at least six makes from deep? If he’s your backup four behind Andrew Carr — a player Pope compared to NBA All-Star Lauri Markkanen, also a sharpshooting forward — you’re in a pretty darn good spot.

Not everyone can add a First Team All-Northeast Conference selection with 1,097 career points and 180 total 3-pointers as your eleventh roster piece.

March Madness experience (with an all-time upset)

Adding experience was crucial for Pope when assembling his first group in Lexington, specifically guys who had played (and won) in the NCAA Tournament. Every time he talks he brings up Lamont Butler Jr. and his game-winning shot in the Final Four to send San Diego State to the national championship game in 2023.

Well, how about a guy who helped pull off one of the most historic upsets in college basketball history that same postseason? Almonor was a member of the No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson squad that knocked off No. 1 seed Purdue in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the Knights defeating the Boilermakers 63-58 to send National Player of the Year Zach Edey home in embarrassing fashion.

Almonor only scored one point on 0-4 shooting and 0-2 from three, but he did add two rebounds and two steals in 25 minutes as the tallest player on the roster, tasked with guarding the tallest and most dominant center in college basketball. The individual production may not have jumped off the box score, but it was a winning effort in an all-time team performance for the upset. He helped get the job done before going for seven points, eight rebounds, one assist and one block in a competitive second-round loss to FAU, who would eventually go on to the Final Four. And that came after going for 23 points with five 3-pointers in the First Four win over Texas Southern to get there in the first place.

26 years of combined DI experience

Speaking of experience, Collin Chandler, Travis Perry and Trent Noah are the only players on the upcoming roster without it, while Otega Oweh and Brandon Garrison are the only guys without a ton of it. Adding Almonor gives Kentucky a grand total of six players with at least three years of prior experience and seven total upperclassmen going into 2024-25 with five graduate students, racking up 26 combined years of Division I experience.

The breakdown is pretty wild considering last year’s roster had just 10 years of experience — eight between Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell.

• Amari Williams – 4
• Kerr Kriisa – 4
• Andrew Carr – 4
• Lamont Butler – 4
• Koby Brea – 4
• Ansley Almonor – 3
• Otega Oweh – 2
• Brandon Garrison – 1

Add one more rising fifth-year piece (hello, Jaxson Robinson or Chaz Lanier) and you’re breaking the 30-year mark in terms of incoming experience, simply unprecedented in Lexington since the start of the one-and-done era.

Time to go get a star

11 scholarship pieces down with two to go — and they might be the biggest for the Wildcats. Pope continues to push his chips in on players still exploring their draft options, headlined by BYU standout Jaxson Robinson and North Florida star Chaz Lanier. The former is expected to choose between staying in the 2024 NBA Draft as a current participant at the Draft Combine and following his old coach to Lexington while the latter is seen as a neck-and-neck battle between Kentucky and Tennessee.

Pope is pursuing and would take both — who wouldn’t? — but he’s gotta get at least one professional bucket-getter capable of taking over in crunch time as a break-in-case-of-emergency option. The system will do most of the heavy lifting, but it never hurts to have a top-flight scorer you can lean on, the one thing this current roster is missing.

It’s a good spot to be in considering there aren’t many (or any) glaring holes elsewhere, Pope putting together a competitive roster with shooting, playmaking, defense, rebounding and experience as it currently stands. But Robinson and/or Lanier separate Kentucky from competitor status to legitimate contender.

Add one and you’re sitting pretty. Add both and you’re as dangerous as anyone going into 2024-25.