High school basketball talent continues to rise in the Bluegrass state, with two players from Kentucky — Travis Perry and Trent Noah — being on this year’s Kentucky Wildcats roster.
Last year, it was Reed Sheppard, who many believed would be a multi-year player, but decided to do the one-and-done route as many projections have him set to be a top-10 NBA Draft pick.
Under John Calipari from 2009-24, the Cats only had five players from Kentucky who had scholarships during his time. They were Jon Hood (class of 2009), Dominique Hawkins (class of 2013), Derek Willis (class of 2013), Dontaie Allen (class of 2019), and Sheppard (class of 2023).
Since then, Mark Pope was able to keep Perry signed to Kentucky, and Noah asked out of his National Letter of Intent from South Carolina and then signed with Kentucky.
A Sea of Blue spoke with Kentucky-based AAU program Griffin Elite AAU program director and Prep Hoops scout Steve Quattrocchi on Noah’s recent commitment to Kentucky and why he could see Noah playing in the NBA in the next few years.
“You know he’s got great positional size as a wing. He is 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7, you know, he’s always shot the cover off the ball, which is what he does best and is a translatable skill, but he also is underrated as a playmaker with his ability to do some things on the ball,” Quattrocchi said on Trent Noah.
“Actually, the first time I ever saw him, he was playing point guard as an eighth grader and starting for Harlan County, and I just made a mental note to say, ‘Hey, that’s a name to remember,’ and then ended up getting to coach him a year and a half or so after that, but he’s a high-level shot maker. He’s a much better athlete than people give him credit for. He really changed his body about a year and a half to two years ago and kind of lost the baby fat and got a lot stronger, and that really helped him with his overall athleticism and his ability to guard, and he’s actually also a really good shot blocker for his position, so he’s got a lot of tools.”
As for what fans can expect to see out of Noah next year on the court.
“He’s going to come in, he’ll compete right away, he will push people for playing time, and I think that at the very least, with his shooting ability, that will get him on the floor some, but I think that his overall playmaking and ability to impact both ends of the court, should get him on the court at least a decent amount as a freshman,” Quattrocchi says.
“He’s not going to be Reed (Sheppard). Those are two different types of players, but he could have the same sort of two-way impact as Reed in spurts. I think he’s got pretty good instincts as far as the ability to get steals and shoot passing lanes that sort of thing, and he’s not going to force his offense. He kind of lets the game come to him. He’s always been at his best when he is surrounded by other high-level players, and it makes the shot selection a lot better, I would expect that he will definitely get on the court, and he’s going to push from day one for playing time, and he’s going to be one of those dudes that’s hard to keep off the floor.”
When John Calipari decided to leave Kentucky for Arkansas and Mark Pope got hired, Quattrocchi thought Noah would be a perfect fit under his system.
“As things unfolded, I kind of was sitting back waiting to see [what would happen], because he is the perfect type of player for that system and how coach (Mark) Pope likes to run his offense,” Quattrocchi says. “It was just a matter of a waiting game because of how Kentucky had to rebuild an entire roster from day one. That’s why I think things in regard to Trent moved slowly, but it was because everything else was moving so fast with the portal guys, and obviously, they retained Travis (Perry), but everybody else is new, so they had a lot of work to put in.
“Then once you get those first eight or so spots filled in, you can kind of start to step back and look at the broader picture, and I think that if there’s a player that was made to play that system for coach Pope, Trent’s probably about as stereotypical as you can get for that type of offense system as far as his offensive game goes.”
Looking into the future, talent continues to rise in the state of Kentucky with Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno, EJ Walker, Jayden Johnson, Taylen Kinney, Gabe Weis, and others.
“Jasper (Johnson) is a kid that played for us when he was younger, and he’s got every offer in America you could want, obviously,” Quattrocchi said. “I think that he could fit potentially there (Kentucky), and I think Malachi (Moreno) kind of the same way, because Malachi has more offensive skills than he gets the opportunity to show a lot of the time. People kind of stereotype him as a back-to-the-basket guy, but he’s actually really good at being able to face up on the high post and hit cutters, and he can even step out and shoot a little bit whenever he gets the opportunity. But even the class after that, there are guys like Gabe Weis, Taylen Kenny who are already kind of associated with that level of player with the four and the five stars.
“I think DeMarcus Surratt is a kid that’s right there in Lexington that could potentially be there, and his brother just finished up as a manager actually at UK was famously known as ‘Big Ray’ the big 6-foot-9 guy, which DeMarcus is not that size, but he’s extremely athletic at the combo guard spot, so there’s no shortage of talent, but the more I get to see out of these even like the 2027 and 2028 classes. I think there’s a lot of talent in these younger groups, where you can see if the staff puts a focus on getting a kid or two every year, but I think there’s a kid or two every year that can play at that level and still be the powerhouse that Kentucky is.”
With the talent continuing to rise in Kentucky, you should expect more players either playing for Kentucky or other high Division I schools and potentially even some making it into the NBA in the next few years.
