Mark Pope sure loves a big man who can pass the ball.
During his first season as Kentucky’s head coach, Pope helped develop Amari Williams from someone known for his defense into one of the most unique, playmaking centers in all of college basketball. Injuries in the backcourt forced Pope’s hand a touch, but Williams was a significant piece to the Wildcats’ offense in 2024-25. To a lesser extent, Pope did the same with Brandon Garrison, who not only improved his passing skills at Kentucky compared to his first season at Oklahoma State, but also cut down on his turnovers.
Williams and Garrison were at their best last season operating in the high post, typically serving as facilitators first. They would initiate the offense and hunt down backdoor cutters. Garrison is expected to do that again in 2025-26, but on a potentially larger scale with Williams now off to the NBA. Kentucky’s other bigs, such as Jayden Quaintance, Andrija Jelavić, Mo Dioubate, and Malachi Moreno, all possess some playmaking chops, as well.
The same goes for the tallest person on the 2025-26 roster: 7-foot-1 rising junior center Reece Potter, a Lexington native who transferred to Kentucky after two seasons at Miami (OH). Pope sees Potter taking on similar playmaking responsibilities during his time as a Wildcat.
“I feel like I shoot the ball at a high level and I’m able to pass. And those are the things (Pope) really liked,” Potter told reporters Monday. “He was able to use Amari Williams and BG in more of a point center type of way.”
Potter showcased his skills as a stretchable center while at Miami. Across his two seasons with the RedHawks (56 games, 11 starts), he averaged 6.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 15.7 minutes per contest while also shooting 37-93 (39.8 percent) from deep. Not only was he able to flex his passing abilities, but he also proved he can knock down long-range shots — something Williams wasn’t able to do.
“(The playmaking is) definitely something I did at Miami and I want to continue to grow,” Potter said. “I got some great players in front of me that do a great job of it, so I’m gonna be able to learn from them and keep growing my game in practice every single day.”
Being able to stretch the floor isn’t something Potter had to learn on the fly at Miami, either. Playing high school ball at Lexington Catholic, it would have been easy to just post-up every possession and use his size, but his head coach, Brandon Salsman, refused to limit his best player. It made Potter’s transition to college easier than it would have been had he been restricted to the paint.
“He’s like, no Reece, no Reece. You’re gonna have to do this in college,” Potter said. “And I was like, you’re right, you’re right. I feel like that helped grow my game a lot. Once I got to college, that was a part of my game and I was just able to do that right away.”
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