There’s a growing concern among Kentucky fans and it has to do with head coach Mark Pope’s inability to land elite recruits from outside the state. Former head coach John Calipari set the gold standard in recruiting when he was with the Wildcats, but the same cannot be said about Pope just yet.
While it has been only just over a year since Pope’s hire but fans are getting restless the way this recruiting season has gone. Lately, Jason Crowe Jr., a five-star guard from Los Angeles, was expected to commit to Kentucky. But he surprised many by announcing Missouri as his preferred destination.
Following this development, college basketball analyst Aaron Torres discussed the glaring concern on his podcast. The analyst read out a comment he received on his handle and he agrees with it. The analyst relayed the message:
“Fellow BBNer here. I like what Pope has done—don’t get me wrong—but continuing to strike out on almost every top recruit out of high school, not from the state of Kentucky, is getting rather concerning.” (0:20)
Despite accomplishing all the things on the court, like beating Louisville, Tennessee (twice), Duke and the eventual national champion Florida, his recruiting is a big question mark.
“The one thing you can’t really deny: he hasn’t landed an elite A++ talent out of the high school ranks—at least not ones that don’t have ties to the state of Kentucky,” Torres added.
Aaron Torres Breaks Down the Common Theme in Mark Pope’s Recruiting
Aaron Torres broke down the recruits committed to Mark Pope and there’s a Kentucky connection in almost all of them. Travis Perry and Trent Noah are both Kentucky natives. Jasper Johnson (five-star) and Malachi Moreno (McDonald’s All-American) again, both from Kentucky. Braden Hawthorne was added but he is not elite.
“So I think it’s fair to say: until Mark Pope proves that he can land that five-star elite talent, it’s going to remain a question mark,” Torres said (1:30). “Especially when you look at the last 12 months: Caleb Wilson—a back-and-forth recruitment. You think you’re in the lead, and then he ends up committing to North Carolina.”
Torres also pointed out Nate Ament making multiple visits to Kentucky, but ended up committing to Tennessee.
The fact of the matter remains that Mark Pope has not been able to attract talent outside of Kentucky. However, the recruiting season is far from over and Pope can still do a lot of things and turn the perception around.
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