A player who came to Lexington as one of the top forward recruits in Kentucky basketball history, here is a look back at the four-year Wildcats career of forward Alex Poythress.
Looking back at the Kentucky basketball career of Alex Poythress
As mentioned previously, Poythress originally came to Kentucky as a member of the Wildcats top-ranked 2012 recruiting class. Poythress was rated as a five-star prospect out of Northeast High School in Tennessee, and was also considered as a Top 10 player nationally in that class as well.
Once in Lexington, Poythress would go on to make a significant impact immediately during the 2012-13 season as a freshman, averaging 11.2 PPG and 6 RPG on 58.1% shooting from the field. Starting in 31-of-33 games, Poythress would also be named to the SEC All-Freshman Team that season, and would go on to return to Kentucky for his sophomore season in 2013-14.
As a sophomore, Poythress would go on to appear in 40 total games off the Wildcats bench that season for a Kentucky team that would fall in the national championship game. One of Kentucky’s top bench options that season, Poythress would average a combined 5.9 PPG and 4.5 RPG, while also shooting 49.7% from the field.
Poythress would return to Lexington for his junior season as well, but would appear in only eight games that year however due to injury. Starting in all eight of those games, Poythress would average 5.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1.5 BPG, while also shooting 85.7% from the free throw line.
Returning for his senior season in 2015-16, Poythress would go on to average 10.2 PPG and 6 RPG on 60.1% shooting from the field. At seasons end, Poythress would go on to enter the 2016 NBA Draft where he would go undrafted, bringing a conclusion to his Kentucky basketball career.
Across his four seasons with the Wildcats, Poythress would average a combined 8.6 PPG and 5.3 RPG, while also shooting 55.1% from the field. Poythress would also start in 62 of his 112 career games at Kentucky.
After going undrafted, Poythress would go on to play three seasons in the NBA from 2016-18, appearing in 52 career games combined between the Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, and Atlanta Hawks. Poythress would average a combined 3.8 PPG and 2.3 RPG during that span, and has since played professionally overseas.