It’s not just Trent Noah, it’s the way Kentucky’s Mark Pope has developed Trent Noah
Late in Kentucky’s 74-69 loss at Vanderbilt last month, UK coach Mark Pope had lightly used freshman Trent Noah on the floor in a key moment in the game.
Vandy guard AJ Hoggard, a veteran with four years of experience at Michigan State before relocating to Nashville, promptly matched up one-on-one on Noah, drove to the basket and successfully penetrated directly to the rim.
“He missed the shot,” Noah reminded the media after the game.
True, but Hoggard teammate Devin McGlockton was there for the follow shot with 1:02 left that turned out to be a crucial bucket in the Commodores’ win.
At the time, I wondered why UK coach Mark Pope would have the freshman from Harlan County on the floor at such an important moment in a road conference game.
Tuesday night in Kentucky’s 75-64 victory over Tennessee, I got my answer.
With this veteran-laden Kentucky team, made up largely of transfer portal additions with tons of experience at previous schools, we may have overlooked the job Pope and staff have done in developing the three rookies on the Kentucky roster.
Travis Perry, the state’s all-time leading boys’ high school scorer, has filled in admirably as a backup point guard while Kerr Kriisa continues to rehab from December foot surgery and Lamont Butler again battles a shoulder injury.
Collin Chandler, starting his college career after a two-year Mormon mission, has shown flashes, including a key 15-minute stint while Butler was missing from the Wildcats’ 78-73 win over Tennessee in Knoxville.
Tuesday night was Noah’s time to shine. And just in time. The Cats were missing Jaxson Robinson, the team’s shooting guard and second-leading scorer who sat the bench with a brace on his right wrist. And with 8:40 left in the game, Butler fell hard on that injured shoulder again and never returned to the floor.
Meanwhile, Noah was coolly sinking three of his four attempts from 3-point land, making each of his two free throws, and playing defense well enough against the fifth-ranked team in the nation to earn a plus/minus rating of plus-18 for his 19 minutes on the floor.
“You let their bench come in and impact the game in a big way,” said Tennessee coach Rick Barnes afterward. “That can’t happen, but it did.”
“We’ve got the ‘Mountain Mamba’ or the ‘Holler Baller,’ which may be my favorite,” said Pope of Noah’s new nicknames. “I give all the credit to Trent Noah’s family and his community and where he grew up. Because that is what he is. He comes every single day.”
Around here, we became so used to John Calipari’s string of top-rated recruiting classes of one-and-dones — here today, gone tomorrow — it has been refreshing to watch this throwback to a time when first-year players were in the background, working outside the limelight, contributing in spot roles.
“I just try to come ready every single day, trusting in God’s plan for me,” Noah said Tuesday night. “I’m just trusting everything, trusting the process and know my time will come.”
Kentucky’s freshmen are now contributors
Noah’s starring role shouldn’t minimize Perry’s contribution. The former Lyon County star arrived at UK with a scorer’s reputation. With Butler hurting and Kriisa out, Perry’s assignment has been to be more of a facilitator who on occasion springs free for a 3.
“TP is not naturally a point guard, but we are shoving him in there as a freshman,” Pope said. “To me, it felt like a really heroic effort on behalf of our whole team.”
This didn’t happen overnight. For UK’s rookie trio to progress to the point of being important contributors during an important time of the season, they needed to be nurtured, taught and, yes, tested in tough spots where lessons are to be learned.
It’s Perry and Chandler and Noah maybe throwing an errant pass, or missing an open shot, or being beaten on a drive, all in the name of learning from their freshmen mistakes.
As coaches say, this is the time of year when you need your freshmen to be sophomores.
“We’ve got ballers, right?” Pope said. “They just want to be ballers, man. They just want to come and play.”
