Projected Kentucky Wildcats lineup after Mark Pope lands prized BYU transfer

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope returned the favor after missing out on projected 2025 NBA Draft lottery pick Egor Demin to his former employer (BYU).

Only days later, Pope successfully poached 2023-24 Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, Jaxson Robinson, to follow him to Lexington, per ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

Borzello announced on Thursday that Robinson removed his name from 2024 draft consideration. Instead, the sharp-shooting guard will use his final year of NCAA eligibility to continue playing for Pope -- only he will be donning a different uniform.

After spending his first two collegiate seasons at Texas A&M and Arkansas, respectively, Robinson transferred to BYU ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. He and Pope proved to be a dynamic pairing in their time with the Cougars, ranking as one of the better offensive teams in the nation. Now, they two will hope for more of the same at Kentucky.

Pope moving Robinson to the bench last year was a massively impactful decision. The latter saw his per-game scoring output nearly double from the year prior (8.5 points to 14.2) while shooting 35.4 percent from three on 6.9 nightly attempts. Will the former deploy a similar lineup strategy at Kentucky? Or will the fifth-year senior be part of the starting five at Big Blue Nation? Here's how we project the Wildcats' depth chart to shake out after landing one of the top-ranked transfer portal prospects.

Projected Kentucky Wildcats lineup after Mark Pope lands BYU transfer Jaxson Robinson

• Guard: Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa, Travis Perry*
• Guard: Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, Collin Chandler*
• Forward: Koby Brea, Trent Noah*
• Forward: Andrew Carr, Ansley Almonor
• Center: Amari Williams, Brandon Garrison

The bolded players are the projected starters, and those with asterisks are freshmen recruits.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Robinson was spectacular off the bench last season, so it is hard to imagine Pope drifting away from that.

Robinson rounds out a group of nine transfer additions. Moreover, Kentucky now has several notable upperclassmen. Pope has done a solid job constructing a formidable roster since taking over as head coach of the Wildcats. Especially considering the team only had one recruit committed and zero returning players.