Kentucky men's basketball coach Mark Pope announced Friday that the program will host an open tryout later this month for potential non-scholarship entrants for the 2024-25 season.
The Wildcats, a preseason top-25 team, are asking interested players to submit their height, weight, position and contact information for their high school basketball coach.
The tryout is open to all full-time Kentucky students who meet academic requirements. According to the announcement, the team will narrow down its list of potential non-scholarship candidates and invite preferred candidates to tryout on Aug. 30.
While an open tryout is rare for a top college basketball program, Kentucky is not the first to hold one.
Last year, Louisville coach Kenny Payne held such a tryout, asking the public to send non-scholarship players “our way” because the team was desperate to add more talent during a challenging season.
In women's basketball, TCU was forced to add four non-scholarship players last season through an open tryout after several players were sidelined with injuries.
To be clear, Kentucky is not in such a situation.
The Wildcats will be led by transfers Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler, along with a collection of talent that Pope, who as a player helped Kentucky win a national title in 1996, has assembled for his first year as coach in Lexington.
