Portal Studs

[SkyPrince]

Just throwing out some names here of players who could be game changers if they enter.
PG/ Combo
1 Tyler Tanner- Currently mocking late first early second.
2 Ebuka Okorie- 2nd round '26 - 1st '27.
3 Acaden Lewis
4 Killyian Toure- Iowa St Fr.
5 PJ Haggerty - Probably goes to his forth school in four years.
6 Tahaad Pettiford - Does he run it back with Steven?
7 Dedan Thomas Jr. LSU's leading scorer before injury
8 Josh Hubbard- Does he look for a bigger payday or cement himself as a MSU legend?
9. Jeremy Fears - Great college PG who obviously hasn't impressed the NBA
10. Naithan George - Syracuse. Not as productive as other on the list but NBA likes his size at PG.
Just some names to throw out for discussion.
Not all are realistic.
Confident all including George would unseat Lowe as the starter.
All will command a major financial commitment if they enter.
Working on a list of wings and bigs

 

[Friedas_Boss]

I would cry if Tyler Tanner left Vandy in the portal. He will be paid a lot of money to stay at Vandy. Hopefully he enjoys playing and developing under Byington.

Probably a better chance of Tanner leaving for the NBA but anything is possible in the portal era.

 

[SkyPrince]

Wing players.
1 Juke Harris - Wake Forest. Mocking early second.
2 Alijah Arenas - I think he waits until '27 to enter
3 Pryce Sandfort - Nebraska
4 Matt Able- NCSU
5 Davis Fogle- Zags
6 Myles Byrd- SDSU
7 Karter Knox - Does he seek a fresh start with the emergence of Richmond?
8 Patton Pinkins Ole Miss Fr.
9 John Mobley Jr - Ohio St.
10 Brett Decker Jr.- Liberty - Mid Major sniper who's from E' town.

 

[SkyPrince]

I would cry if Tyler Tanner left Vandy in the portal. He will be paid a lot of money to stay at Vandy. Hopefully he enjoys playing and developing under Byington.

Probably a better chance of Tanner leaving for the NBA but anything is possible in the portal era.

He's getting a pay raise somewhere,NBA, Vandy, or another school.

 

[Friedas_Boss]

He's getting a pay raise somewhere,NBA, Vandy, or another school.

I’d guess he got 1 million to return to Vandy and I bet he gets 3 million this offseason to stay. Or some big number…

He’s fun to watch, glad he’s here. I am worried he’ll go tot he NBA but I’ll be happy for him if so. He’s probably not a lottery pick though, which usually means you return though.

 

[SkyPrince]

I’d guess he got 1 million to return to Vandy and I bet he gets 3 million this offseason to stay. Or some big number…

He’s fun to watch, glad he’s here. I am worried he’ll go tot he NBA but I’ll be happy for him if so. He’s probably not a lottery pick though, which usually means you return though.

He was #32 on the ESPN mock updated yesterday.

 

[SkyPrince]

Centers.
1 Mam. Diop - AZ St.
2 Somto Cyril - Georgia
3 Magoon Gwath - Does Pope try again
4 Mike Nwoko- LSU
Not a lot of depth or star power in the post.
Would the Ivisic brothers entertain a transfer?
Didn't include Steinbach despite what Pilgrim said.
He is currently #15 on an updated ESPN mock.

 

[OliverSimmonsTwinBrother]

3 Magoon Gwath - Does Pope try again

God I hope so. I still have my Youtube account from when we thought he signed last year, "The Goon Sesh" was gonna a channel dedicated to his highlights

 

[Badabingbadaboom]

I think there are a few more P4 guys who could be picked off with the right amount of $$$. Definitely fill the vacuum at UK.

 

[#1 cat fan]

Mike nwoku would be a nice pick up
Cyril could be good too splitting time with moreno

 

[jmw23712]

Pope struck out with all the big name portal guys last year. Probably gonna need to dig a little deeper to find players for next years roster. And even more concerning, is he just gonna find some mediocre replacements for Oweh and Aberdeen and run it back with the rest of them. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if next years starting lineup looks something like this:

Lowe
Chandler
Portal Player
Mo/Jelly
Garrison

I hope I’m wrong, but have little reason to believe otherwise at this point.

 

[yoshukai]

Centers.
1 Mam. Diop - AZ St.
2 Somto Cyril - Georgia
3 Magoon Gwath - Does Pope try again
4 Mike Nwoko- LSU
Not a lot of depth or star power in the post.
Would the Ivisic brothers entertain a transfer?
Didn't include Steinbach despite what Pilgrim said.
He is currently #15 on an updated ESPN mock.

Apparantly Illinois is the destination school for euros . Doubt the Ivisics would leave.

 

[CatPatrick13]

OP thanks for the great info.

 

[seccats04]

Pope struck out with all the big name portal guys last year. Probably gonna need to dig a little deeper to find players for next years roster. And even more concerning, is he just gonna find some mediocre replacements for Oweh and Aberdeen and run it back with the rest of them. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if next years starting lineup looks something like this:

Lowe
Chandler
Portal Player
Mo/Jelly
Garrison

I hope I’m wrong, but have little reason to believe otherwise at this point.

14 losses could turn into 18 losses next year, if that's the lineup.

 

[#1 cat fan]

Pope struck out with all the big name portal guys last year. Probably gonna need to dig a little deeper to find players for next years roster. And even more concerning, is he just gonna find some mediocre replacements for Oweh and Aberdeen and run it back with the rest of them. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if next years starting lineup looks something like this:

Lowe
Chandler
Portal Player
Mo/Jelly
Garrison

I hope I’m wrong, but have little reason to believe otherwise at this po

I don't think he struck out. JQ was a highly sought player , lowe was a big add as well.
Have you looked at the stats for the big players last year? You would want them gone if they had came here
Dent 29% from 3 avg 14 on a ton of shots
Even yaxel is avg 13 a game
They aren't exactly killing it

 

[JwUKFan11]

All I know is this portal cycle will decide it all. Pope cannot have a repeat of missing all the top guys. Pick 3-5 of the top guys that you think fit and land 2-3 of them.

If we had Silas and Yaxel this year would have been much different.

 

[megablue]

Pope struck out with all the big name portal guys last year. Probably gonna need to dig a little deeper to find players for next years roster. And even more concerning, is he just gonna find some mediocre replacements for Oweh and Aberdeen and run it back with the rest of them. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if next years starting lineup looks something like this:

Lowe
Chandler
Portal Player
Mo/Jelly
Garrison

I hope I’m wrong, but have little reason to believe otherwise at this point.

I hope you are wrong, too. That team would lose more than half its games.

 

[seccats04]

Mike nwoku would be a nice pick up
Cyril could be good too splitting time with moreno

Cyril would plant MM to the bench, where he belonged this year. I still can't believe we paid a bunch of $ to JQ, knowing he would miss at least half the season, if not all of it. Hopefully MM improves next year but I'm not confident the staff can bring it out of him. BG did not improve at all this year.

 

[seccats04]

Centers.
1 Mam. Diop - AZ St.
2 Somto Cyril - Georgia
3 Magoon Gwath - Does Pope try again
4 Mike Nwoko- LSU
Not a lot of depth or star power in the post.
Would the Ivisic brothers entertain a transfer?
Didn't include Steinbach despite what Pilgrim said.
He is currently #15 on an updated ESPN mock.

I know Gwath technically returned to SDSU but Pope can't recruit a guy to UK away from a mid major? This reminds me of when Tyrone Nash picked a prep school over UK in the Tubby days.

 

[seccats04]

All I know is this portal cycle will decide it all. Pope cannot have a repeat of missing all the top guys. Pick 3-5 of the top guys that you think fit and land 2-3 of them.

If we had Silas and Yaxel this year would have been much different.

Yea, Silas was a big miss. He's better than Dent in every way. Bigger, stronger, more athletic and better shooter. Dent may be a better distributor but that's it.

Wilkerson and Jaron Pierre were big misses too. Two athletic wings that can fill it up. We definitely needed more scoring in last year's portal haul.

 

[UKBB4Ever]

The only portal players that will play for Pope are guys that know they will never make the NBA.

So if college is their best job they know Pope will be the biggest mark.

And they don’t have to work on their game or get in shape. Just touch money.

 

[Anon1679859502]

Wing players.
1 Juke Harris - Wake Forest. Mocking early second.
2 Alijah Arenas - I think he waits until '27 to enter
3 Pryce Sandfort - Nebraska
4 Matt Able- NCSU
5 Davis Fogle- Zags
6 Myles Byrd- SDSU
7 Karter Knox - Does he seek a fresh start with the emergence of Richmond?
8 Patton Pinkins Ole Miss Fr.
9 John Mobley Jr - Ohio St.
10 Brett Decker Jr.- Liberty - Mid Major sniper who's from E' town.

I’m thinking that Pope won’t sign another combo guard or stud wing for fear of running off Hawthorne or Chandler…it will be a shame if that is the case, after all, it is his job that’s on the line

 

[bigblueinsanity (the real)]

Unless Pope makes big changes, we aren't getting anyone with high nba draft pick aspirations. This system doesn't let them display NBA skill.

So he needs to either change his system or change his targets back to fringe second round guys. Otherwise, we'll strike out again and overpay out of desperation.

 

[Pensacola_Cat_Fan]

We won’t need any new recruits. We have our starters and depth pieces:

Lowe,
Chandler,
CW,
MO,
Moreno

Depth: Garrison, Jelly, Noah etc

We probably won’t get any new players for next year or it will just cause jealousy.

I think this team, as is, can possible be top 5 in the SEC if they continue to develop.

 

[KyWideWes]

I know Gwath technically returned to SDSU but Pope can't recruit a guy to UK away from a mid major? This reminds me of when Tyrone Nash picked a prep school over UK in the Tubby days.

That could more about how bad he is at allocating money. I bet we offered him less than what we paid Garrison to come back.

 

[KyWideWes]

Yea, Silas was a big miss. He's better than Dent in every way. Bigger, stronger, more athletic and better shooter. Dent may be a better distributor but that's it.

Wilkerson and Jaron Pierre were big misses too. Two athletic wings that can fill it up. We definitely needed more scoring in last year's portal haul.

Wilkerson, Demery, and Oweh would have been an unreal combination.

 

[kyjeff1]

PJ Haggerty
Jeremy Fears
Somto Cyril

I really like those three.

Dedan Thomas is another one, but I get ptsd just thinking about the fact he’s injured. I would like just one freaking year, where we don't have injury issues.

 

[seccats04]

PJ Haggerty
Jeremy Fears
Somto Cyril

I really like those three.

Dedan Thomas is another one, but I get ptsd just thinking about the fact he’s injured. I would like just one freaking year, where we don't have injury issues.

I don't want Thomas for that reason. If he's already injured, forget it. We even have an assistant coach in an arm sling.

 

[SkyPrince]

I’m thinking that Pope won’t sign another combo guard or stud wing for fear of running off Hawthorne or Chandler…it will be a shame if that is the case, after all, it is his job that’s on the line

He really has no choice.
He has to replace Oweh and Aberdeen.
No other returning players have their skillsets.

 

[jmw23712]

I don't think he struck out. JQ was a highly sought player , lowe was a big add as well.
Have you looked at the stats for the big players last year? You would want them gone if they had came here
Dent 29% from 3 avg 14 on a ton of shots
Even yaxel is avg 13 a game
They aren't exactly killing it

Agree on Dent. JQ was a known risk as a 250 lb man 7 months from a torn ACL. But Yaxel and Wilkerson were huge misses. Yaxel is averaging 14.5 ppg on 50% FG, 7.1 rbs (more than anyone on our team), and 3.3 assists on the top team in the country. Even if we had him instead of JQ this is a completely different team. Add Wilkerson to the roster with Yaxel and it’s a FF team.

 

[HipTer]

I don't think he struck out. JQ was a highly sought player , lowe was a big add as well.
Have you looked at the stats for the big players last year? You would want them gone if they had came here
Dent 29% from 3 avg 14 on a ton of shots
Even yaxel is avg 13 a game
They aren't exactly killing it

Oh, Lendeborg is killing it alright. Do everything forward/PF. Big Ten Player-of-the-Year. He leads Michigan in scoring but his stats are amazing across the board - and he's putting up those stats on a team with other good players. More often than not he's the guy making winning plays when it counts most.

You put just Lendeborg on this UK team and UK very well could be Top 10 good. If Pope lands both Lendeborg and Wilkerson - and the indications at the time were that UK finished 2nd for both - this current UK team would be an obvious title contender and maybe the best team in the Country.

 

[TFCat11]

Every name you listed would be entertained by most of the top schools, so again I ask…

Is UK/ Pope willing to pay more than the competition? Because so far, they have refused!

And now, we’re in a situation where most of these star players will steer clear of Pope because of his minute distribution and PE Teacher substitution patterns, let alone, he’s probably going to be coaching for his career next season, so why go through that when you can go play for Hurley or Golden etc., and kick some azz and take some names?

You tell me, it’s not rocket chemistry if I’m making the decision!

 

[SkyPrince]

Power forwards/ Stretch 4
1 Milan Momcilovic- Iowa St. - Probably the most " Pope" system 4 that could become available.
2 David Punch - TCU - Maybe the most "Yaxel" like player that may be available.
3 Allen Graves - Santa Clara - Freshman that's getting late first buzz. 6'9 with a decent stroke
4 Jalen Harelson - Notre Dame - Former McDonald's AA. Tweener at 6'7
5 Baye Ndongo - Ga Tech - 4/5 combo.
6 Sadiq White- Syracuse. - Probably too similar to Williams and Hawthorne to bring in.

 

[MaysviileKY]

It will all depend on money. I doubt Pope will have 22 mil to spend next year. So my guess is that they will have about 12-15 mil total to spend. If he keeps 5 - 6 from this year, he will only be able to bring in 1 stud or 2-3 guys he hopes fills gaps.

 

[Cats_2010]

Cyril would plant MM to the bench, where he belonged this year. I still can't believe we paid a bunch of $ to JQ, knowing he would miss at least half the season, if not all of it. Hopefully MM improves next year but I'm not confident the staff can bring it out of him. BG did not improve at all this year.

It’s amazing how once every 8-10 games or so BG shows up and looks like the Mickey D label he was tagged with only to revert back to like he’s never played the game before.

 

[Cats_2010]

Unless Pope makes big changes, we aren't getting anyone with high nba draft pick aspirations. This system doesn't let them display NBA skill.

So he needs to either change his system or change his targets back to fringe second round guys. Otherwise, we'll strike out again and overpay out of desperation.

Popes original 5 out system definitely affords them to showcase their nba skills which consist of nothing but the ability to shoot the long ball. We have anything but a 5 out system this year however and really didn’t have last year either with Williams being our key big.

 

[Jaime Chitwood]

Mark Pope could sign the top portal player at every position and the outcome will still be the same.

 

[Henogee1975]

We won’t need any new recruits. We have our starters and depth pieces:

Lowe,
Chandler,
CW,
MO,
Moreno

Depth: Garrison, Jelly, Noah etc

We probably won’t get any new players for next year or it will just cause jealousy.

I think this team, as is, can possible be top 5 in the SEC if they continue to develop.

Oh wow

 

[Anon1773430700]

I think people we'll be pleasantly surprised at the portal haul. We're still Kentucky and still THE premier CBB destination. Kids understand the tradition and the passion. This was just Murphy's law type of year and there's still time to make a run yet. I see next year as the Big Blue Revenge Tour. I think you'll see a totally different team. Mark Pope didn't suddenly forget how to coach

 

[MaysviileKY]

I think people we'll be pleasantly surprised at the portal haul. We're still Kentucky and still THE premier CBB destination. Kids understand the tradition and the passion. This was just Murphy's law type of year and there's still time to make a run yet. I see next year as the Big Blue Revenge Tour. I think you'll see a totally different team. Mark Pope didn't suddenly forget how to coach

With JMI limitations, UK is not the premier location any longer. Unless JMI moves off their all control position, we won’t get top recruits.