A Kentucky basketball player is headed overseas to start his pro career
A former Kentucky player has found a new basketball home.
Ansley Almonor, a senior off the bench on Mark Pope’s first Wildcats’ team this past season, has signed with Salon Vilpas, a team in Finland’s top professional league. The pro team announced the signing Monday morning.
Almonor, 23, played his first three seasons of college basketball at Fairleigh Dickinson — averaging 16.4 points per game as a junior — before joining Pope’s first UK roster as a late transfer addition last summer.
In 36 appearances with the Wildcats, the 6-foot-7 forward from Spring Valley, New York, averaged 5.3 points and 1.6 rebounds in 14.2 minutes per game. He also made seven starts in place of injured teammates and shot 42.4% from 3-point range, the 19th-best single-season rate in program history.
More recently, Almonor represented UK as part of the La Familia team in the TBT. He said before debuting for that squad that he hoped playing in the nationally televised tournament would lead to more professional opportunities in the immediate future.
“Obviously, I’m going to continue playing the game,” he said. “I just don’t know where yet.”
He averaged only 1.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in three TBT games, however.
Almonor said before the tournament that he had no geographical preference regarding his next basketball stop.
“Just wherever I can get a great opportunity and play basketball at this point,” he said.
Salon Vilpas is based in Salo, Finland, and tied for the third-best record in its 12-team league this past season.
Another new acquisition for the Finnish club — nicknamed the Vikings — will be former Mississippi State guard Claudell Harris Jr.
Almonor was one of seven seniors on Pope’s first Kentucky roster, and he’s the final player from that group to secure his first post-UK basketball stop.
Former teammates Koby Brea and Amari Williams were both selected in June’s NBA draft, with Brea going to the Phoenix Suns and Williams ending up with the Boston Celtics.
Three other ex-Cats signed undrafted free agent deals with NBA teams. Lamont Butler landed with the Atlanta Hawks, while Andrew Carr signed with the Portland Trail Blazers and Jaxson Robinson agreed to a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The other senior on last season’s team, Kerr Kriisa, suffered a foot injury in December and was granted one more year of college eligibility. Kriisa transferred to Cincinnati for the 2025-26 season.
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 10:32 AM.
