By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Mark Pope has officially added Reece Potter to his roster.
Potter, a former standout at Lexington Catholic, played the previous two seasons at Miami of Ohio,. He was a finalist for Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 2023 and was 11th Region Player of the Year as a senior at Catholic.
“Reece Potter is a Lexington Catholic legend,” Pope said. “He is a lengthy big who has a unique combination of mobility and skill. Reece can really pass, shoot, and protect the rim and fits into what we do exceptionally well. Most importantly, he truly understands what it means to wear the Kentucky jersey.”
As a sophomore last season for Miami, Potter played in 30 games off the bench and averaged 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 17.1 minutes per game. Potter shot 36.7% on 3-pointers and 46.6% from the field last season.
Potter reached double figures six times and scored 19 points in a win over Sacred Heart in December. He made all eight field goal attempts, including three shots from long range. He scored 15 points and had eight rebounds and two blocks in a MAC Tournament win over Eastern Michigan.
In his two seasons at Miami, Potter averaged 6.3 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game, while shooting 45.4% from the field and 39.8% from 3-point range.
Potter is the seventh transfer to join the Kentucky roster during the off-season. Other additions include Denzel Aberdeen, Mouhamed Dioubate, Andrija Jelavić, Jaland Lowe, Jayden Quaintance and Kam Williams.
Potter is the 13th scholarship player on the team.
Road to Recovery
During an appearance on the Aaron Torres podcast this week, Quaintance said his recovery from a torn ACL is on schedule.
“I’ve been doing well (and) focusing on recovery as much as possible,” Quaintance said. “I’ve been getting my flexibility back pretty well. I’ve been getting full extension, swelling is going down, it’s been pretty straightforward so it’s going well.”
Quaintance originally committed to Kentucky with the Class of 2024, but opted out after former Kentucky coach John Calipari left for Arkansas. Quaintance then signed with Arizona State, where he played for Bobby Hurley last season.
After the season, Quaintance said he felt like “had to find a program [that] fit my play style a little bit better.”
“I felt like Kentucky was that perfect spot,” he said. “They have a better basketball environment as well. They have more fan support so that was a big part of it. As well as fitting my play style a little bit better so I could show off my versatility and flourish in a different role.”
He added that Kentucky coach Mark Pope and his staff “showed a lot of support” as he recovers from the knee injury. He anticipates a full recovery by September.
“It felt like they really wanted me,” Quaintance said. “They thought I fit in very well to their system. They play a little faster, they shoot a little more from the perimeter and I’ll be able to show off my versatility that way as well.
“Seeing how well they did last year, how their system works, how freely their system operates, that was good for me to see exactly how I would fit there. (Having) a real chance to win next year, that was also a big part of it. They have a lot of good guys over there, a very structured program, so I felt like we have a real good chance to win the national championship next year.”
G-League camp
Andrew Carr will be joining former teammates Lamont Butler and Amari Williams, along with Kentucky transfer Jaland Lowe, in the NBA G-League Camp set for Friday-Sunday in Chicago.
The top performers from the three-day camp will then receive an invite to the NBA Combine that will be held Sunday-May 18 in Chicago.
Kentucky’s Otega Oweh and former Wildcats guard Koby Brea will be participating in the main combine.