Kentucky announces signing of Ansley Almonor: "He's a fearless competitor"

Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Ansley Almonor has put pen to paper with Kentucky, head coach Mark Pope announced Friday. The 6-7 forward becomes the 11th addition for the Wildcats this offseason, bringing a valuable sharpshooter depth piece to Lexington.

“Ansley is one of the best shooting mid-major bigs out there and he is a tremendous mover without the basketball,” Pope said. “He’s a fearless competitor with great leadership qualities. Ansley is a finance major who comes from an unbelievable family from Haiti. He’s a great addition to this roster as a veteran presence with a lot of college basketball under his belt.”

The newest Wildcat set a Fairleigh Dickinson single-season record with 93 made 3-pointers as a junior last season, while averaging 16.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game en route to earning first-team All-Northeast Conference honors. He will have one season of eligibility remaining.

A 1,000-point career scorer, Almonor spent his first three seasons with Fairleigh Dickinson before making the move to Kentucky. As a junior, he started in 31 of 32 games and connected on 43.6% of his field-goal attempts and 39.4% from 3-point range. His 93 made 3s tied Manny Ubilla (2007-08) in Knights’ history for the most in single-season annals, while the mark led all players in the Northeast Conference. He poured in a career-high 30 points at Le Moyne to underscore his junior campaign.

The Spring Valley, New York, native made 34 starts in 36 appearances during a sophomore season that was highlighted by FDU’s magical run in the 2023 NCAA Tournament that saw the Knights upset No. 1 seed Purdue in the opening round. He was the NEC’s Most Improved Player and was a third-team All-NEC selection after logging 13.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Almonor paced the squad in total rebounds with 172.

As a freshman, Almonor appeared in 24 contests and made four starts. He averaged 3.46 points and 1.71 rebounds per game, while shooting 47.6% from the field and 34.3% from distance.

For his career, Almonor has appeared in 92 games and made 69 starts. He’s tallied 1,097 points, 375 rebounds and drained 180 3-pointers at a 38.5% rate. Almonor has topped double-figure scoring in 54 contests and drained multiple 3-pointers on 45 occasions.