Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have been working hard over the past few months to get the commitment of consensus five-star prospect Tyran Stokes. They were one of the finalists in the forward’s recruiting process, apart from Oregon and Kansas.
However, when Stokes made his commitment on Tuesday, it was a heartbreaking moment for Pope and his program. The recruit decided to sign with the Kansas Jayhawks to play under coach Bill Self. Apart from this loss, Kentucky might also be facing heat for alleged recruiting violations.
According to the NCAA, engaging with a recruit’s social media post publicly before finalizing a National Letter of Intent (NLI) is considered a recruiting violation. In 2016, they introduced the “Tap, Don’t Type” rule, which provides a guideline on how coaches can interact with a recruit’s social media post.
They are usually allowed to like and share content, but are prohibited from publicly making a comment. However, when Tyran Stokes shared a post announcing that he will finalize his commitment on Tuesday, Kentucky assistant coach Mo Williams decided to comment on the tweet.
According to the NCAA guidelines, this is considered a recruiting violation. However, they have not yet made an official statement on the situation, leaving fans uncertain if the Wildcats will face any penalty.
Tyran Stokes committed to the Kansas Jayhawks on the “Inside the NBA” show. He was considered the No. 1 overall prospect in this year’s recruiting class after AJ Dybantsa reclassified to the class of 2025.
Aaron Torres calls out Kentucky after Tyran Stokes’ commitment to Kansas
FOX Sports’ Aaron Torres took to social media to criticize Mark Pope and his team for their social media activity before Tyran Stokes’ commitment. He believed that Mo Williams’ comment on the recruit’s post before his NLI was a bad look for the program.
“Was live on air when Tyran Stokes committed to Kansas. But have to say: I’ve tried to be fair to Mark Pope. But Kentucky having his assistants sub-tweet recruits- that UK wasn’t getting might be the worst move yet. Beyond recruiting struggles, optics are flat terrible,” Torres said.
Last season. Bill Self helped Kansas qualify for March Madness. However, they were eliminated by St. John’s in the second round of the tournament. The last time they won a national championship was during the 2021-22 season.
Read More: AJ Dybantsa Drops 3-Word Reaction As Tyran Stokes Announces College Commitment
Also Read: Mark Pope Makes His Feelings Clear After Missing Out on Tyran Stokes to Bill Self’s Kansas
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