Mark Pope hasn’t had the best time recruiting players for the Kentucky Wildcats this year. Pope is usually very aggressive in his approach and is known for building quality rosters by signing some of the best players.
This year, however, Pope has missed the mark several times, most notably with Tyran Stokes, who committed to the Kansas Jayhawks.
However, Pope responded by bringing in Washington center Franck Kepnang through the transfer portal. Kepnang is a 6’11″ senior who averaged 6.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game, while shooting 51.5% last season.
Interestingly, Kepnang is heading into his seventh season of college basketball. He has had several seasons cut short due to injuries. He only played 17 games in 2020-21, eight in 2022-23, 10 in 2023-24, and 14 in 2024-25.
He needed a waiver to be able to play next season, and that waiver arrived just in time for him to officially become a Wildcat. Now, with a strong center who has extensive experience, the Kentucky roster is starting to take shape.
Braydon Hawthorne, Trent Noah, Reece Potter, and Kam Williams will return next season. Zoom Diallo, Franck Kepnang, Justin McBride, Jerone Morton, and Alex Wilkins are incoming transfers.
Zyon Hawthorne, Mason Williams, and Ousmane N’Diaye are other valuable additions made by Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats this year.
Mark Pope on Recruiting Changes
Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope recently held an online Q&A session. Fans sent thousands of questions to the coach, and he was impressed by their enthusiasm.
One of the questions Pope addressed was how to make changes to the program’s recruitment process.
“The first change, I’d like to get all 20 kids to visit our campus,” he said. “That’s a major win, and there’s no limit. Second, I’d like to land a few. Third, this year, we were chasing a generational talent, and we fell a little short, but we weren’t sitting on our hands. We put together a roster that we are going to love watching crush it in Rupp Arena.”
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