Trent Noah never paid attention to critics after he struggled through a “sophomore slump” last season.

Despite not spending his time reading and responding to negativity, Noah has simply stayed on task. Even while he struggled with injuries and consistency, Noah didn't run and hide when the season ended. He quickly announced he was returning for a third season with the Wildcats.

"There's zero part of me that's trying to prove other people wrong," Noah said. "I wake up every day and I do it every day to prove the people in my little foxhole right because they believe so much in me.”

The Harlan County product, known by many as “Mountain Mamba,” added that Kentucky coach Mark Pope “believes so much in me.”

"Doing it for yourself is way bigger than doing it for other people,” he said. “When you look at it in that perspective, it shifts the narrative and shifts your mind. Instead of doing it for the negative part of it, (I) think about doing it for my mom, because she's invested so much in me."

Noah also depends on his inner circle for support — his family and coach. That patience has paid off this summer and his teammates, especially Milan Momcilovic, have noticed his improvement on the court.

“I didn't watch a whole lot of Kentucky last year, watched a little bit, so I saw him play a little bit here and there,” Momcilovic said. “Coming into the summer, I think he's been the best player so far.

“Coach showed a slide of points per possession, and he's No. 1 by a long shot. Looking at him and learning from him a little bit, because he's been here three years … he's a veteran in this program; he knows what to do. So I think just watching that and seeing that, because he's a shooter too is cool.”

Despite his own status as a veteran, Momcilovic has relied on Noah to help sharpen his knowledge and skills this summer.

“He understands everything — just to watch him and see how he goes about it,” he said. “I have my own wrinkle to what I do, but kind of understand it from him, and take off from there.”

Noah has also been impressed with this year’s squad, which he describes as one that has a lot of “toughness.”

“I feel like we're super tough,” he said. “We really shoot the three well, and we have a lot of length. I think that that helped us on defense. We're kind of being a little more aggressive this year defensively, and I feel like our length and our size kind of make up for some of the holes that we have.”

Entering his third season, Noah believes the best is yet to come.

"I feel like I'm the most confident I've ever been," Noah said. "That's just a testament to being older and to my work. In 21 years, I've had this dream. So, I feel like I'm super confident and ready to go. (I’m) hungry. I feel like this year, as a team and individually. We're going to see a breakthrough."


Trent Noah has been impressive during summer workouts. (Keith Taylor/Kentucky Today)