A Kentucky homecoming for Lexington’s Reece Potter
Lexington Catholic graduate back in the Bluegrass to play for UK next season
LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW)- Reece Potter had already made a name for himself in Lexington as a high-profile high school player, but that name is going to ring much louder now that he’s a Kentucky Wildcat.
The Lexington Catholic product is Head Coach Mark Pope’s last scholarship player for the 2025 season and will join the team this summer.
“It’s wild. It’s surreal. It’s hard to grasp those emotions until I pull on that jersey,” said Potter, who played his first two seasons of college ball at Miami (OH).
During his two years in Oxford, Potter played in almost 60 games. This past season, the 7′ 1″ center scored 6.5 points, grabbed 3.7 boards and provided 1.7 assists per game.
Kentucky ‘Till I Die
Potter is now one of four native Kentuckians on scholarship for Pope’s second year in charge of Kentucky. Jasper Johnson from Woodford County, Malachi Moreno from Great Crossing and Trent Noah from Harlan County are the three other scholarship players from the Commonwealth.
When the news of Potter’s commitment broke, Moreno was the first to call him.
“He Face Timed me and he was very excited,” said Potter. “It’s a good friendship to have. It’s going to be fun to finally team up with them.”
Tales of the Transfer Portal
A deep love for Kentucky is what drew Potter back home. Otherwise, he could’ve had his pick of Blue Bloods to join after he submitted his transfer papers to move on from the RedHawks program.
“It was a longer process, but once Kentucky contacted me it was over from there,” said Potter. “I talked to North Carolina a lot. I talked to Wisconsin and Dayton a bit. UConn reached out at the last moment. The day I committed, Louisville called me.”
The rising sophomore says he wasn’t expecting that much attention, but he feels it’s a testament to his development in college as a more physical and stronger center.
A Call with the Pope
After talking with some assistants on Pope’s staff about coming home to Lexington, Potter only had to wait a few moments for the head coach to call.
“It was a crazy feeling when he Face Timed me. He’s got so much energy, it’s infectious,” said Potter on Pope. “It was surreal. ‘Woah this is Mark Pope calling me.’ It meant a lot for sure.”
That’s one of Potter’s pinch me moments. The others have been the overall responses from Solid Blue fans welcoming him home to the Bluegrass.
“I wake up every day thinking I’ll be able to put on the Blue and White,” said Potter.
