Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope is facing competition from his predecessor, Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari, and several others in the recruitment of Furman guard Alex Wilkins, who has entered the transfer portal.
Wilkins had a breakout season with Furman in his freshman year. In 35 games started, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 17.8 points per game on 46% shooting, including 32.8% from the 3-point line. He also recorded 2.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 0.1 blocks and 0.8 steals per game. Wilkins scored 21 points in the NCAA Tournament loss against UConn, including 4-8 from the 3-point line.
His potential has what many program attracted to his transfer portal move, according to insider Adam Zagoria. Wilkins has reportedly received interest from the following programs in the transfer portal:
- Alabama
- UConn
- Syracuse
- Houston
- Xavier
- Baylor
- Creighton
- Providence
- Texas
- SMU
- Kentucky
- Miami
- Arkansas
- Kansas
- Ole Miss
- Illinois
- Seton Hall
- Vanderbilt
It appears there are some major teams involved in recruiting Wilkins, who was selected to the All-SoCon Second Team.
Mark Pope wants to reshape the Kentucky roster after the second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament. He needs a versatile scoring guard, and Wilkins could fit right in.
On the other hand, Calipari is an aggressive recruiter from the portal. With Calipari’s experience of preparing strong guards for the NBA, there will be natural appeal for Wilkins to go there.
Kentucky HC Mark Pope’s Short Message As Transfer Portal Opens Officially
One day after the Michigan Wolverines defeated the UConn Huskies to win the NCAA Championship, the transfer portal was opened on April 7th. Despite spending $20 million, the season didn’t go as planned for Pope’s Kentucky.
Ahead of an important offseason, Pope made sure to ignite the Kentucky fanbase with the following short message on X:
“Let’s go to work, BBN.”
Kentucky is witnessing a mass exodus for the second straight year with Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen, Jaland Lowe, Mo Dioubate, Jasper Johnson, and Brandon Garrison all departing from the program.
While Pope needs to recruit depth for all positions, the most important of them would be point guard. For this, he reportedly has his eyes on LSU transfer Dedan Thomas Jr. Perimeter shooting was another cause of concern for Kentucky last season and Pope will like to make sure that doesn’t remain the problem by the end of the portal.
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