[jetpilot]

Great stuff as always CJ.

[Old School Hound]

Bo knows football. Cactus knows roundball.

[Cactus Jack]

Great stuff as always CJ.

Bo knows football. Cactus knows roundball.

Thanks.

Some other thoughts: Kasean Pryor (South Florida) has an ideal game for the five-out, but don't know that we'll be able to offer the minutes and opportunities. Another name that makes a lot of sense for Kentucky could be Max Shulga (VCU); same for Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin).


Still monitoring where some other names end up. My best guesses on those:

Jayden Quaintance (Kentucky) - Memphis
Rylan Griffen (Alabama) - Kansas
Adou Thiero (Kentucky) - Pitt
Johnell Davis (FAU) - Houston, Arkansas, or maybe an outside shot for Kentucky
Cade Tyson (Belmont) - North Carolina
Igor Miličić Jr. (Charlotte) - Tennessee, Nebraska, or Baylor
Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee) - North Carolina, Baylor, Arkansas, or Alabama

Cade Tyson is another of the "shooter" dominoes that you can throw in with Brea and Stojakovic. All of them seem to have some interest from North Carolina and all of their lists have included at least one other traditional power. TJ Bamba (Villanova) is another name that will be on that carousel.


Surprised by how many really big name players in the portal are associated with Louisville. See them in on lots of names and am wondering if this is due to the Cards casting a wide-net and making contact with those available or if there's legitimate interest from guys like Chucky Hepburn or Jayden Quaintance. Overall, they've already taken six commitments from the portal, but two of those did follow Kelsey from Charleston.

[jetpilot]

Great stuff as always CJ.

Bo knows football.  Cactus knows roundball.

Thanks.

Some other thoughts: Kasean Pryor (South Florida) has an ideal game for the five-out, but don't know that we'll be able to offer the minutes and opportunities. Another name that makes a lot of sense for Kentucky could be Max Shulga (VCU); same for Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin).


Still monitoring where some other names end up. My best guesses on those:

Jayden Quaintance (Kentucky) - Memphis
Rylan Griffen (Alabama) - Kansas
Adou Thiero (Kentucky) - Pitt
Johnell Davis (FAU) - Houston, Arkansas, or maybe an outside shot for Kentucky
Cade Tyson (Belmont) - North Carolina
Igor Miličić Jr. (Charlotte) - Tennessee, Nebraska, or Baylor
Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee) - North Carolina, Baylor, Arkansas, or Alabama

Cade Tyson is another of the "shooter" dominoes that you can throw in with Brea and Stojakovic. All of them seem to have some interest from North Carolina and all of their lists have included at least one other traditional power. TJ Bamba (Villanova) is another name that will be on that carousel.


Surprised by how many really big name players in the portal are associated with Louisville. See them in on lots of names and am wondering if this is due to the Cards casting a wide-net and making contact with those available or if there's legitimate interest from guys like Chucky Hepburn or Jayden Quaintance. Overall, they've already taken six commitments from the portal, but two of those did follow Kelsey from Charleston.

Kelsey and Pope both great dudes, high-energy and extremely positive. Can't not like them. I expect both to get great players and also role players that fit their system. Can they lead their programs back to the top? Time will tell but I like what I'm seeing and Pope has a super extra advantage that he played at UK and won a national championship. No better way to prepare you for the UK job and give you instant street cred.

[jetpilot]

Also Ricky P is a huge help to Pope from $$$ to steering players his way that wouldn't consider St. Johns. Pitino all in helping UK is one of my favorite sports stories of the last 15 years.

[Old School Hound]

Also Ricky P is a huge help to Pope from $$$ to steering players his way that wouldn't consider St. Johns. Pitino all in helping UK is one of my favorite sports stories of the last 15 years.

My mother was a HUGE Rick P fan. Absolutely adored the guy!!!

[Cactus Jack]

Saunders returning to BYU is a little surprising. I'd initially mentioned all the ties he had to the BYU culture but flipped to him ending up at Kentucky because his visit seemed to be well received.

My Oweh prediction may make my crystal ball look better going forward... or maybe not. Doesn't have the best pull-up game (and that's an understatement) but think his tape shows the ability to get all the way to the rim in both halfcourt and transition & that he's able to catch and shoot. Staff will probably go with what they know for awhile and there seem to be more Big XII, Utah, and Midwestern ties than anything else, so not surprised that he came in for a visit.

Still hoping that Jalen Blackmon becomes the next legacy, but his brother also played at Indiana and the chatter on him seems more focused on other schools.

Methinks Kentucky is casting a pretty wide net with all of the visits and that we'll see even more uncertainty with the NCAA's new rule on grad transfers needing to enter by May 1 absent an exception.

I would not at all be surprised if as many as four or five names that haven't really been mentioned yet ultimately wind up on next season's roster at some point. Kentucky fans probably weren't thinking about Trazarien White dropping 27 in a November win in Rupp and thinking "that might be a decent piece for next season" at this time two days ago, but there's no better look that a staff and administration gets at an opposing player than in live action.

It should be a very busy time between now and next Wednesday's deadline.

[Granny Bear]

Also Ricky P is a huge help to Pope from $$$ to steering players his way that wouldn't consider St. Johns. Pitino all in helping UK is one of my favorite sports stories of the last 15 years.

My mother was a HUGE Rick P fan. Absolutely adored the guy!!!

ALL older women was a fan of RP.  His butt was so cute in those Italian suits.  BUT, like most of us, it is sagging in his older age; so not so much anymore.

[Spud6]

Also Ricky P is a huge help to Pope from $$$ to steering players his way that wouldn't consider St. Johns. Pitino all in helping UK is one of my favorite sports stories of the last 15 years.

My mother was a HUGE Rick P fan. Absolutely adored the guy!!!

ALL older women was a fan of RP.  His butt was so cute in those Italian suits.  BUT, like most of us, it is sagging in his older age; so not so much anymore.

Gee oh Granny

[Spoozer12]

I'm hearing if things don't start coming together, we'll see open gym tryouts, some of you guys may have some eligibility left....Joking.

[Spud6]

I'm hearing if things don't start coming together, we'll see open gym tryouts, some of you guys may have some eligibility left....Joking.

I could give 5 minutes a half and take 3 charges a game. That's about all i got left in me

[Cactus Jack]

Kelsey and Pope both great dudes, high-energy and extremely positive. Can't not like them. I expect both to get great players and also role players that fit their system. Can they lead their programs back to the top? Time will tell but I like what I'm seeing and Pope has a super extra advantage that he played at UK and won a national championship. No better way to prepare you for the UK job and give you instant street cred.

Louisville just bagged former Wisconsin PG Chucky Hepburn. Big get for the Cards. He and Edwards could make a nice backcourt if they gel.

Starting to think that Kelsey and Louisville may be getting on a bit of a roll and become a problem.

[Spud6]

Kelsey and Pope both great dudes, high-energy and extremely positive. Can't not like them. I expect both to get great players and also role players that fit their system. Can they lead their programs back to the top? Time will tell but I like what I'm seeing and Pope has a super extra advantage that he played at UK and won a national championship. No better way to prepare you for the UK job and give you instant street cred.

Louisville just bagged former Wisconsin PG Chucky Hepburn. Big get for the Cards. He and Edwards could make a nice backcourt if they gel.

Starting to think that Kelsey and Louisville may be getting on a bit of a roll and become a problem.

We fighting against Papa John's and Tyson Chicken money and we got old coal money

[Cactus Jack]

San Diego State's LaMont Butler committed to Kentucky. Good defensively and looks like he can get to the rim, but maybe doesn't have the best touch on his shot (release looks a little slow, probably because of how he gathers). Should be a pretty important piece regardless. With he and Amari Williams, it looks like Pope is putting an emphasis on being better defensively.

Pursuit of former Seton Hall Pirate Kadary Richmond is interesting. He jumped into the portal and is slotted between Great Osobor and Rylan Griffen in the top available transfers. I don't expect him to be a Wildcat.

Keeping an eye on Miami's implosion. Their roster is about to get raided, as one of their more prominent boosters and NIL-backers is facing some issues in the legal system. Know KSR mentioned Wooga Poplar, but Norchad Omier could be a fit as well.

The dominoes on shooters in this class may fall soon. Indiana decommit Liam Neeley committed to UConn. Seems like weird timing for Koby Brea to narrow his visits to Storrs and Durham, so maybe we're in for some more twists there.

[Old School Hound]

I'm hearing if things don't start coming together, we'll see open gym tryouts, some of you guys may have some eligibility left....Joking.

I could give 5 minutes a half and take 3 charges a game. That's about all i got left in me

I could trash talk my way into a couple of technicals.  That's about all I have left. 

[Old School Hound]

Boogie(Fland, not Cousins) reuniting will Cal in Arkansas. Cal stocking the shelves at Arkansas like they've not seen since Richardson stalked the sidelines in Hogville.

[Bluecat]

Arkansas will now lead everything when it comes to the NBA, for me that means nothing as I truly despise the NBA. Don't watch and couldn't care less. Actual success at the college level with these players means more to me than their NBA careers. Just my way of looking at it

[Cactus Jack]

Excited about Otega Oweh's potential. Can read back through my past posts and see that I was hopeful about getting him.

Amari Williams, Lamont Butler, and Oweh are a nice experienced, defensive minded core. Here's to hoping we've got our nucleus set on one side of the court and can get a big time scorer and complementary scorer, plus a couple more pieces for depth to top things off.

Still think there are as many as three names that aren't really being discussed yet that have a decent role next season. If this isn't the case, then there's more than one name like Mahaney, Brea, or Carr that we reel in.

[rookie57]

I think we are putting some good chess pieces together, we just need a lot more

[Cactus Jack]

Andrej Stojakovic to Cal. Cade Tyson to UNC. All signs pointing toward Brea to UConn, as he's now cancelled his visit to Duke. The shooter carousel is still spinning, but the dominoes are really starting to fall.

I'm fine with Kentucky getting as many pieces as possible and am fine with the idea of adding defenders first (because it gives you more to recruit the scorers with when they see how much they'll be able to score) so long as you don't go so long that it causes you to miss out on the scorers entirely.

In Kentucky's case, it's probably a matter of getting what you can while you can.

[Old School Hound]

Always liked Mark Fox, former Georgia head coach. Thought he was a fine coach. Glad to have him on our bench.

[Cactus Jack]

Wake Forest's Andrew Carr is in and gives us the stretch big that we needed. Blackmon has committed to Miami (odd choice considering the booster scandal, but whatever...) and Mashburn Jr. is going to be a Temple Owl.

[16BBall Fan]

This was posted on Kentucky Wire yesterday evening. I am glad that Coach Pope is looking to the future while working on this years roster.

Kentucky basketball makes offer to 2025 recruit Darryn Peterson. Mark Pope is still working on a roster for the 2024-25 season for Kentucky basketball. However, he is also hard at work on the 2025 recruiting class. He has contacted top overall player A.J. Dybansta, and is in the running for Will Riley. Now, he has also made an offer to the third overall player in the class in Darryn Peterson.

Peterson in a five-star shooting guard out of Huntington Prep in West Virginia. He has good size at 6'6" and nearly 200 pounds, and is the top shooting guard in the class.
Peterson has offers from a lot of the top programs, including North Carolina, Kansas, Ohio State, and others. Peterson's father has previously said that Kentucky was his son's dream school as a kid. Whether or not that will factor in now is unknown.


The biggest question about Mark Pope's hiring was if he would be able to recruit top players. The answer to that won't be known for a while, but it's good to know that he's working hard at it.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Great stuff as always CJ.

Bo knows football.  Cactus knows roundball.

Thanks.

Some other thoughts: Kasean Pryor (South Florida) has an ideal game for the five-out, but don't know that we'll be able to offer the minutes and opportunities. Another name that makes a lot of sense for Kentucky could be Max Shulga (VCU); same for Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin).


Still monitoring where some other names end up. My best guesses on those:

Jayden Quaintance (Kentucky) - Memphis
Rylan Griffen (Alabama) - Kansas
Adou Thiero (Kentucky) - Pitt
Johnell Davis (FAU) - Houston, Arkansas, or maybe an outside shot for Kentucky
Cade Tyson (Belmont) - North Carolina
Igor Miličić Jr. (Charlotte) - Tennessee, Nebraska, or Baylor
Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee) - North Carolina, Baylor, Arkansas, or Alabama

Cade Tyson is another of the "shooter" dominoes that you can throw in with Brea and Stojakovic. All of them seem to have some interest from North Carolina and all of their lists have included at least one other traditional power. TJ Bamba (Villanova) is another name that will be on that carousel.


Surprised by how many really big name players in the portal are associated with Louisville. See them in on lots of names and am wondering if this is due to the Cards casting a wide-net and making contact with those available or if there's legitimate interest from guys like Chucky Hepburn or Jayden Quaintance. Overall, they've already taken six commitments from the portal, but two of those did follow Kelsey from Charleston.

When it comes to lville it’s because PK has been given the green light to start talking $ as soon as contact is made and over pay. it rarely works but they’ll be one or two lville gets that they have no business getting just from $ alone.

Now that JQ is heading to AState lville will be in desperation mode for big if they don’t get Osobor and if I was Kentucky I wouldn’t let him leave without him saying yes. 
This whole lville facade will be over in a few months and PK will just be yet another coach that goes and fails there. He won’t be any better than Mack

[RunItUpTheGut]

I think Kentucky will wrap up Osobor this week unless he just ask for something insane. I think he still takes his lville visit and they may be desperate enough to offer him way more than he’s worth.

But it is what it is

[Cactus Jack]

Brea may actually be back in play for Kentucky with Mahaney committing to UConn. Don't think that Mahaney and Brea were mutually exclusive, but any school getting one probably lowered their odds with the other.

[16BBall Fan]

From KSR today:

[RunItUpTheGut]

All signs point to Brea being a lock. Trilly has even said so at this point.

Osobor is about 70% UK IMO.

Get those two and then steal somebody you’re not supposed to and that would be a pretty damn good roster. Better than any charmin soft frosh roster cal put together the last 8 years

[Van Hagar]

That would be a damn fine roster. And I wouldn’t sleep on Travis Perry being able to be a true contributor as a freshman either. I watched him a couple of times at the state tourney last month, and he honestly looked better there than Sheppard ever did, and we all know how that eventually turned out. Not saying he can have the same type of season Reed did, but definitely think he can provide solid minutes.

[Cactus Jack]

That would be a damn fine roster. And I wouldn’t sleep on Travis Perry being able to be a true contributor as a freshman either. I watched him a couple of times at the state tourney last month, and he honestly looked better there than Sheppard ever did, and we all know how that eventually turned out. Not saying he can have the same type of season Reed did, but definitely think he can provide solid minutes.

If you'd have told me three weeks ago that at this point in time, the roster would be:

PG - Butler, Perry
SG - Brea, Chandler
SF - Oweh
PF - Osobor, Carr
C - Williams

and that we'd still have four to five scholarships to use, I'd have thought that you were crazy.

No one may stand out as someone who can take over a game offensively and defensively, but there's a lot of starts and experience in those lineups. Brea is good, but he didn't start for Dayton last season and is atrocious defensively.

Would really love to see that group rounded out by a guard that could score in bunches. Think Pope will play so uptempo that feeding eight mouths shouldn't be an issue.


On Perry, I think that he can do some things and obviously provides shooting and may even be a little underrated handling the ball, but I think it he'll need some time to adjust to the speed and physicality of the game. Having watched one of Chandler's mixtapes, it immediately jumps out that he's the much better athlete of the two. I just wonder what type of shape he's in coming off of a two year hiatus.