Jordan Burks is now a Kentucky Wildcat. What can he bring to an already freshman-heavy team?

The Kentucky men’s basketball roster for the 2023-24 season grew by one Monday morning with the announcement small forward Jordan Burks would be heading to Lexington.

Another class of 2023 recruit, Burks represents the sixth scholarship freshman set to be on the UK roster for this coming season.

Listed this past season at 6-foot-9 and 190 pounds, the 19-year-old Burks established himself as an elite scorer while playing in the Overtime Elite pro basketball league (OTE) with Hillcrest Prep (an Arizona-based school).

Burks led OTE in scoring during the regular season with more than 27 points per game and added 7.5 rebounds and nearly three assists per regular-season contest. He also led OTE in scoring during the playoffs with an average of 23 points.

Across the full 40-game schedule played by Hillcrest Prep last season, Burks averaged 28.2 points per game and made 41% of his three-point shots.

While Burks isn’t a longtime Kentucky recruit, he recently said UK has long been his dream college basketball destination.

Additionally, Burks said Monday morning during his commitment announcement on the “Paper Route” show as part of the I Am Athlete podcast that Kentucky head coach John Calipari was a major reason why he chose to come to Lexington.

“I feel confident in my decision because Coach Calipari is genuine,” Burks said on the show Monday morning. “He’s a family guy. He’s honest, he doesn’t lie. He tells every player the same thing. It’s not going to be easy, because if it was easy then everybody could do it. That’s why (Kentucky is) the best fit for me, because (Calipari) wasn’t promising me any minutes, nothing. Just, ‘You’ve got to come work. You’ve got to work for what’s yours.’”

Burks’ projection as a high-major basketball player has been apparent for a while.

He was formerly signed to play college basketball at Ole Miss before a coaching change in Oxford led Burks to ask out of his national letter of intent.

Now, he finds himself in the deep end of the pool at Kentucky, and it remains to be seen how his skills will translate to the college level. It’s also unclear what role he will play for the 2023-24 Wildcats.

To help paint this picture, the Herald-Leader spoke with 247Sports national basketball analyst Travis Branham, who explained how Burks’ athleticism could be an asset to any early playing time he gets with the Cats.

“He’s a talented wing. Good athlete. Can score from all three levels,” Branham said. “He led OTE in scoring this past year, so he seems to have made a jump. I do actually think that type of setting, though — they get up and down; a lot of transition play — I think that fits him more than anything.”

For his part, Calipari also offered some insight into Burks’ style of play in a Monday morning news release announcing his commitment to Kentucky.

“Jordan has good size and has the ability to be a prolific scorer,” Calipari said in the release. “His length allows him to play multiple positions, be dynamic in the open court, rebound at both ends and he can put it on the floor and score in a variety of ways … I really love his toughness and his upside is tremendous.”

Now that Kentucky basketball has officially moved on from the Oscar Tshiebwe era, the Wildcats no longer possess a dominant, heliocentric presence around the rim.

This figures to change how Calipari’s team will operate offensively.

According to Branham, while Burks might not have a standout skill at the moment, he brings a variety of offensive abilities to the table.

“I think (his) halfcourt skill set needed some development, but that’s not necessarily a concern,” Branham said. “There’s nothing I would really say he hangs his hat on, in terms of being an offensive player, right now. But he can do a little bit of everything. He can slash. He can make shots. Talent and potential there to give some minutes … off the bench.”

Something that seems cut and dry is that Burks will have to lock in on defense to earn whatever on-court time comes his way this season.

“With the size, the athleticism, the tools are there to be an effective defender,” Branham said. “It’s never really something that I’ve classified as a strength in the past, but the tools are there to be worked with.”

To this point, during another appearance on the “Paper Route” show last week, Burks said his experience playing at Overtime Elite highlighted areas of his game where he needed to improve, including on defense.

“It was a great experience. I got to see all my measurements, my pros and cons,” Burks said. “To go against lottery picks (like) the Thompson twins. … It also humbled me, because I’ve got to work on other things: I’ve got to rebound, play better defense, be a better teammate. (There were) highs and lows in the process, and it prepared me for the next journey.”

Many factors will play a role in everything coming together to maximum effect for Burks at Kentucky.

Chief among these will be Calipari’s ability to get an incredibly young basketball team up to speed quickly against what projects to be a difficult non-conference schedule.

But Burks has the intangibles in place to become an effective defender and earn his role on a Kentucky team that, currently, will be relying on him for legit minutes.

“For a guy like him to get on the court — just knowing how Cal operates — he’s going to have to buy into the defensive end. He’s going to have to really buy in there,” Branham said. “If he buys in on the defensive end, he can come in off the bench and give them some minutes, and be a bit of an offensive boost.”

And on this front, Burks’ comments Monday morning echoed confidence that despite being young, UK will create significant issues for other teams defensively.

“You’re not going to be able to double team (us),” Burks said. “It’s not going to work.”

Current Kentucky men’s basketball roster outlook

Here’s a current breakdown of all the scholarship players joining and leaving the Wildcats, along with the question marks that still exist for next season’s team.

Incoming players: Aaron Bradshaw (freshman center), Jordan Burks (freshman small forward), Robert Dillingham (freshman guard), Justin Edwards (freshman small forward), Reed Sheppard (freshman guard), DJ Wagner (freshman guard).

Returning players: Brennan Canada (fifth-year guard), Ugonna Onyenso (sophomore forward), Adou Thiero (sophomore guard).

Outgoing players: Daimion Collins (forward, transferred to LSU), CJ Fredrick (guard, transferred to Cincinnati), Chris Livingston (forward, NBA Draft), Oscar Tshiebwe (forward, NBA Draft), Jacob Toppin (forward, NBA Draft), Cason Wallace (guard, NBA Draft), Lance Ware (forward, transferred to Villanova), Sahvir Wheeler (guard, transferred to Washington).

Yet-to-be announced: Antonio Reeves (guard).

Reeves pulled his name out of the NBA Draft and will return to college basketball for next season, but he hasn’t confirmed whether or not he would return to Kentucky for his final season of NCAA eligibility.

After a long wait, Kentucky men’s basketball finally lands a new player for next season