Kentucky's Trent Noah will return for junior season

The Mountain Mamba era in Lexington will continue, as Trent Noah has decided to return for his junior season at Kentucky, he announced Sunday.

He averaged 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in year two while playing in 27 games with three starts. His production increased as a sophomore while his role decreased, seeing just 10.6 minutes per contest compared to 11.1 as a freshman, finishing with 2.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game to begin his career.

Noah finished with nine points and three rebounds at Texas A&M and nine points and seven rebounds at Arkansas, but failed to score multiple buckets in any other high-major game this season. His best performances came in a 16-point, six-rebound effort vs. Tennessee Tech and an 11-point, six-rebound day vs. NC Central.

The Harlan native saw his role expand once Kam Williams went down with a broken foot in late-January, but his biggest impact was felt on the glass, pulling down multiple rebounds in eight of his last 13 games. Mark Pope, however, wanted to see him be more aggressive offensively and fire away from deep — his specialty and a team need for much of the season with inconsistent production from the perimeter.

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“Probably want him to be a little more daring, a little more aggressive offensively,” he said going into March. “I don’t worry about Trent Noah making shots. He’ll make shots, he’s gonna make shots through the course of it. So I spend zero time on that but I do think he’s given us positive energy, positive physicality, positive ball security. … We’re gonna need him. Like, we need him. We have a very, very small, limited roster right now. So he’s important for us.”

Prior to his time at Kentucky, Noah racked up 3,707 career points at Harlan County to finish as the No. 5 all-time scorer in KHSAA history. He averaged 29.9 points and 10.4 rebounds on 56/43/89 splits as a senior, leading his team to the Sweet 16 championship game — a loss to Travis Perry and Lyon County.

Unlike Perry, Noah is running it back once again with the Wildcats, now going into his junior campaign in the blue and white.

Welcome back, Mountain Mamba!