Mark Pope made his name in the transfer portal pretty much as soon as he put on his first blue and white zip-up. Given his late hiring in 2024, the first team he coached at Kentucky waa built on sticks and glue out of what was left in the portal.
Pope has since managed to broaden his horizons, landing his first five-star high school recruit, Ryan Hampton, this offseason. But until the 2027 season at least, the Wildcats remain built on the transfer portal, and this year’s team represents Coach Pope’s biggest strides therein yet.
One simple statistic tells the entire story of recruiting improvement: Kentucky is one of only four schools nationwide with three top 50 players out of the transfer portal. That’s excellence, no matter the specific numbers… but it helps that Milan Momcilovic is the No. 2 guy overall…