The college basketball national media is disrespecting Kentucky's backcourt

How good will Kentucky's backcourt be this season?

University of Kentucky’s new men’s basketball coach Mark Pope applauds as Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart introduces him to the thousands of fans in Rupp Arena for his press conference on Sunday, April 14, 2024. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

When Mark Pope put together his first Kentucky roster, pretty much all of the players came from the transfer portal. This is to be expected when a coach has to put together a roster in a short amount of time.

Coach Pope did a good job getting balance on his roster while also having a ton of veteran players who have played a lot of college basketball. Having veteran ball handlers is huge for a team, especially in late-game situations and NCAA Tournament games, and the Wildcats have just that.

Despite having a backcourt full of talented veterans, The Field Of 68 listed the Wildcats as the 16th best backcourt, right behind Louisville, who was 15th.

This Kentucky backcourt is full of players like Jaxson Robinson and Koby Brea, who will be two of the better scorers in the SEC. Then you add Lamont Butler and Kerr Kriisa at point guard, who have a ton of experience. Butler is the best on-ball defender in college basketball, and Kriisa will come off the bench and be a spark plug for the Wildcats, scoring from deep.

This Kentucky backcourt is a prototype of the type of backcourt that helps a team make a deep run in the tournament, from what has happened over the last few seasons.

To be fair, this list still has the Wildcats as a top 20 backcourt in college hoops, but this group will be better than this ranking of 16th best. Kentucky's backcourt will be a top-ten unit in college basketball.