UK’s Trent Noah and Travis Perry highlight Kentuckians to watch in men’s NCAA Tournament

Two former Kentucky high school stars are playing key roles in UK coach Mark Pope’s first season leading his alma mater.

Two Kentucky Mr. Basketball winners.

The Southeastern Conference’s player of the year.

Five players who started their collegiate careers at Kentucky before hitting the transfer portal.

And a former Lexington prep star who tops two all-time scoring lists. 

The 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament field is full of connections to the Bluegrass State.

Here’s a look at players with ties to Kentucky who’ll get a chance to star in this year’s edition of NCAA March Madness.

Starting five

Johni Broome, Auburn: The SEC’s player of the year, Broome is a 6-foot-10 senior forward/center from Plant City, Florida, who played two seasons at Morehead State (2020-22) before joining the Tigers. Auburn (28-5, 15-3 SEC) won the league’s regular-season championship. Broome is averaging 18.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. He has averaged 16.0 points and 9.4 rebounds across five collegiate seasons.

Dayvion McKnight, Xavier: The former Collins High School and Western Kentucky University star was Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball for 2020. The 6-foot graduate guard played three seasons for the Hilltoppers before joining the Musketeers for two more. He has started all 32 games and is averaging 9.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists for Xavier (21-11, 13-7 Big East), one of the last four teams to earn an NCAA bid. McKnight has scored 1,959 points during his college career. He averaged more than 16 points per game in both of his last two seasons with WKU.

Colin Porter, Liberty: A 5-foot-10 junior guard out of Ashland Blazer, Porter averages 9.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals for the Flames. He shoots 44.3% from 3-point range for Liberty (28-6, 13-5), Conference USA’s regular season and tournament champions. Porter had 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the Flames’ league title-game victory. He scored 15 points in the semifinals. He has started all 102 games in three seasons at Liberty.

Jackson Sivills, Wofford: The 6-foot-6 senior guard out of McCracken County is fifth for the Terriers (19-15, 10-8) in scoring, averaging 9.3 points to go with 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists for the Southern Conference Tournament champions. Sivills scored a career-high 20 points, including four 3-pointers, in Wofford’s title game victory against Furman. The Terriers are coached by former Kentucky basketball player Dwight Perry. … “My goal when I came here was to put another banner up in Jerry Richardson (Indoor Stadium), and I’m blessed to be able to say that we did it,” said Sivills, who played two seasons at Murray State before transferring to Wofford for three seasons. … Sivills is McCracken County High School’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder with 1,998 career points and 871 rebounds. His father, Scott, played basketball at Murray State from 1990-94.

D.J. Wagner, Arkansas: Wagner, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard from Camden, New Jersey, played one season at Kentucky before following John Calipari to play for the Razorbacks (20-13, 8-10 SEC). He’s averaging 11.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists for Arkansas. That includes scoring 17 points to go with eight assists in a win against Kentucky on Feb. 1. Wagner averaged 9.9 points and 3.3 assists as a freshman at UK. … He was a McDonald’s All-American Game MVP and was the Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year for three straight seasons. … His father, Dajuan Wagner, played college basketball at Memphis for Calipari and was drafted sixth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2002 … His grandfather is Milt Wagner, who won a national championship at Louisville in 1986 and was a second-round pick by the Dallas Mavericks in 1986.

Sixth men

Trent Noah, Kentucky: A 6-foot-5 freshman forward out of Harlan County, Noah is averaging 2.7 points and 2.1 rebounds for the Wildcats (22-11, 10-8 SEC). He has averaged 11.4 minutes in 21 games played. Noah finished his high school career as the state of Kentucky’s fifth all-time leading scorer (3,707 points) and averaged 29.9 points during his senior season. … Noah’s grandfather, Charles “Perky” Bryant, played football at Kentucky from 1961-63. 

Travis Perry, Kentucky: The 2024 Kentucky Mr. Basketball winner from Lyon County is a 6-foot-1 freshman guard for the Wildcats (22-11, 10-8 SEC). … Perry averages 2.8 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 9.9 minutes and has started four games. He finished his high school career as the all-time leading scorer in the state of Kentucky with 5,481 points, which is also the seventh-most all-time in the country per the MaxPreps National High School Basketball Record Book, according to his UK Athletics bio. … He led Lyon County to a state championship in 2024 and was named the Sweet 16’s MVP. … He is a two-time Gatorade state player of the year.

Sidelined?

Adou Thiero, Arkansas: The 6-foot-8 junior forward from Pittsburgh transferred to the Razorbacks (20-13, 8-10 SEC) after two seasons at Kentucky. He’s Arkansas’ leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 15.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists, but he hasn’t played since Feb. 22 after being sidelined by a knee injury. Thiero scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a win against UK on Feb. 1. … He is not expected to play in the Razorbacks’ NCAA Tournament opener. … Thiero averaged 7.2 points and 5.0 rebounds as a sophomore at Kentucky.

In the rotation

Skyy Clark, UCLA: The 6-foot-3 junior guard from Los Angeles is essentially on his fourth collegiate team. He signed with Kentucky in 2021 before backing out and playing for Illinois, then Louisville, then the Bruins (22-10, 13-7 Big Ten). Clark averages 8.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 32 games, all as a starter. He averaged 13.2 points for Louisville last season.

Brett Decker Jr., Liberty: The 6-foot-3 freshman guard played at Central Hardin. He is averaging 4.1 points, 0.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 6.8 minutes in 26 games played for the Flames (28-6, 13-5), Conference USA’s regular season and tournament champions. Decker didn’t play in Liberty’s league title-game victory. He scored 16 points against Western Kentucky in the Flames’ regular-season finale.

Zvonimir Ivišić, Arkansas: A 7-foot-2 sophomore center from Vodice, Croatia, Ivišić transferred to play for the Razorbacks (20-13, 8-10 SEC) after one season at Kentucky. He’s averaging 9.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks for Arkansas. … Ivišić missed the first 16 games as a freshman at Kentucky before becoming eligible on Jan. 20, 2024. He averaged 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 15 games.

Brian Moore Jr., Norfolk State: The 6-foot-2 senior guard from Harlem, New York, played two seasons at Murray State and one at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M before joining the Spartans (24-10, 11-3), the MEAC’s regular season and tournament champions. He scored 15 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had four assists in the league championship game and was the MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Moore leads Norfolk State in scoring with 18.4 points per game to go with 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.3 steals. He shoots 41.2% from 3-point range. Moore averaged 9.2 points as a junior for the Racers.

Marques Warrick, Missouri: The 6-foot-3 graduate guard out of Lexington’s Henry Clay High School starred for four seasons at Northern Kentucky before transferring to Missouri (22-11, 10-8 SEC) and taking on more of a supporting role for his final collegiate season. He has averaged 6.8 points and 1.3 assists in 13.4 minutes with no starts while shooting 46.1% from 3-point range for the Tigers. He scored 17 points, including four 3-pointers, in a loss to Kentucky on March 8. … He is Northern Kentucky’s all-time leading scorer with 2,246 points and was named to the 2023-24 All-Horizon League First Team; the All-Horizon League Second Team in 2021-22 and 2022-23; and 2020-21 All-Horizon League Third Team. … He also finished as Henry Clay’s all-time leading scorer with 1,909 points.

Tre White, Illinois: A 6-foot-7 junior guard from Dallas, White played one season apiece at Southern Cal and Louisville before landing with the Fighting Illini (21-12, 12-8 Big Ten). He’s averaging 10.7 points and 5.4 rebounds this season.

Jae’Lyn Withers, North Carolina: The 6-foot-9 graduate forward from Charlotte, North Carolina, played three seasons at Louisville before two with the Tar Heels (22-13, 13-7 ACC). He averages 6.4 points and 4.4 rebounds and has started 18 of 35 games. Withers shoots 43.9% from 3-point range.

Reserves

Brad Colbert, Xavier: The 6-foot-2 forward from Loveland, Ohio, played four years as a walk-on at Xavier (2022-24) and Louisville (2020-22) before earning a full scholarship this season as a graduate student. He has three points and two assists in three games played for the Musketeers (21-11, 13-7 Big East).

Dennis Evans, Grand Canyon: The 7-foot-1 freshman center from Riverside, California, is a transfer from Louisville who is redshirting this season for the Antelopes (26-7, 13-3 WAC). He averaged 1.6 points in seven games for the Cardinals last season.

Cam Fletcher, Xavier: The 6-foot-7 graduate forward from St. Louis started his college career at Kentucky before transferring to Florida State and then Xavier (21-11, 13-7 Big East). He has struggled with knee injuries for three seasons and is averaging 1.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 4.0 minutes in 11 games played, the last of which came on Feb. 15. … Fletcher played in nine games as a freshman, averaging 1.7 points, 1.7 rebounds in 6.7 minutes.

Will Gibson, Liberty: The 6-foot-6 freshman forward out of DeSales in Louisville has played in three games and totaled two points and three rebounds for the Flames (28-6, 13-5), Conference USA’s regular season and tournament champions. His father, Sean, played basketball at Purdue Fort Wayne and professionally in Spain, Chile and Iceland.

Walker Horn, Kentucky: The 6-foot-3 junior walk-on guard is the son of former Tates Creek and Western Kentucky star and current Northern Kentucky coach Darrin Horn. Walker Horn played part of his high school career at Covington Catholic. He has played in four games for the Wildcats (22-11, 10-8 SEC) this season.

Dezdrick Lindsay, Oregon: The 6-foot-6 junior forward out of Male High School, is sitting out this season for the Ducks (24-9, 12-8 Big Ten) after shoulder surgery. He averaged 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds last season in junior college at Florida Southwestern.

Cole Sherman, Louisville: The 5-foot-11 guard out of Saint Xavier spent two seasons at Northern Kentucky before joining the Cardinals (27-7, 18-2 ACC) for this season. He has three points and a rebound in 10 games played.

Noah Stansbury, Memphis: The 6-foot senior guard is the son of former Memphis assistant coach Rick Stansbury and previously played at Greenwood in high school and for Western Kentucky while his dad was the coach there. He has not played this season for the Tigers (29-5, 16-2 American Athletic).

Henry Thole, Xavier: The 6-foot-7 freshman out of Villa Madonna Academy is a walk-on for the Musketeers (21-11, 13-7 Big East). As a senior in high school he averaged 17.8 points (18th in Kentucky), 15.5 rebounds (first) and 2.8 blocks (second). He has played in one game this season.

Zach Tow, Kentucky: The 6-foot-5 junior walk-on forward played for Madisonville in high school. He has played in one game this season for the Wildcats (22-11, 10-8 SEC). Tow’s sister Kaylee was an All-American in softball at Alabama.

Kareem Watkins, Arkansas: He’s a 5-foot-8 graduate senior guard from Camden, New Jersey, who previously spent four seasons as a walk-on at Kentucky. He has played in three games for the Razorbacks (20-13, 8-10 SEC).

This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 11:18 AM.

Dennis Varney

Lexington Herald-Leader

Dennis Varney is a former journalist for the Herald-Leader