A guy i would look at is Alex Wilkins, freshman PG from Furman. Guy is 6’5 and averages 17 and 5. Able to get to the basket with ease.
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.
Haggerty averaging 23 a game and shooting decent numbers for a crappy team. We need his helpPJ 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.
This is why you cut his NIL pay in quarters. He showed up 5-6 games all year. Wish we could deduct payments when they play like crap.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.
Haggerty no thanks. Fears while good, is Grayson Allen 2.0 the tripper:groin tapper.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
Sandfort is exactly the type of player Pope needs.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 assume you are being sarcastic. We need more than a few elite players to be an elite team.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.
Awful on defense and turns the ball over same rate as assistsA guy i would look at is Alex Wilkins, freshman PG from Furman. Guy is 6’5 and averages 17 and 5. Able to get to the basket with ease.
Can he go both ways off the bounce with ease ??A guy i would look at is Alex Wilkins, freshman PG from Furman. Guy is 6’5 and averages 17 and 5. Able to get to the basket with ease.
Okorie from Stanford is the best fit for POPE’s system.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
He just left Iowa NEW COACH hire for Nebraska don’t see him leaving Hoiberg.Sandfort is exactly the type of player Pope needs.
Sandfort is exactly the type of player Pope needs.
Terrible defender and high turnover rateCan he go both ways off the bounce with ease ??
Terrible defender and high turnover rate
Turnover rate 3.8 a game and grades out 112.7 overall defender![]()
Alex Wilkins College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Alex Wilkins - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much morewww.sports-reference.com
Mobley is point guardWing 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.
Good list I posted this about a week agoJust 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
Definitely like the kid from vandy and Hubbard plus okorieJust 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
Diop from AZ state is best of the list. Watched him several times, pretty impressive for a freshman. Also like steinbach, but he is not as athletic. Gwath didn't show much this year, could be due to injury. Not much of shot blocker or rebounderCenters.
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.
Better sign someone because those 2 aren't game changersI’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
Exactly why someone with business knowledge is neededThat could more about how bad he is at allocating money. I bet we offered him less than what we paid Garrison to come back.
you forgot Hawthorne & PotterWe 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.
Not sure about final four but for sure a single loss teamAgree 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.
Still don't think they could compete with AZ or dukeOh, 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.
Like the kid from Iowa state. They play hard and tough, something desperately missing from UK the past few years. The guy from tcu is a bit small, but a playerPower 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.
Pack his bags and buy him a train ticketIt’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.
Then pope should recruit for his system. This group was nothing like that system.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.
We have had a ton of isolation ball this year. Isolation is not a sytem but rather a roll the ball out there and let them do their thing. We had that with cal the last 5 years here for the most part.It focuses on passing and cutting. No isolation. The pg especially gets nothing to show.
Why would he leave Nebraska to come to this clown show?Sandfort is exactly the type of player Pope needs.
Anderson from Texas tech is very goodGood list I posted this about a week ago
Scoring PG
JR - Josh Hubbard - Miss St
FR - Ebuka Ekorie - Stanford
JR - Tariq Francis - Rutgers
SO - Tyler Tanner - Vandy
SO - Terrence Hill Jr - VCU
SO - Labaron Philon - Bama
JR - Barrington Hargress - Colorado
JR - Aden Holloway - Bama
SO - John Mobley Jr - Ohio St
Pure PG
SO - Christian Anderson - Texas Tech
JR - Colby Garland - San Jose St
FR - Acaden Lewis - Villanova
SO - Joshua Dent - St Mary's
FR - Nigel James Jr - Marquette
He is I honestly don’t see guys like him entering would think most like where they are at and the school would ante up before they enter. BUT different age now it’s all money nowAnderson from Texas tech is very good
He's a combo like Aberdeen.Mobley is point guard
I left off Anderson and Phillion because both are concensus first rounders.Good list I posted this about a week ago
Scoring PG
JR - Josh Hubbard - Miss St
FR - Ebuka Ekorie - Stanford
JR - Tariq Francis - Rutgers
SO - Tyler Tanner - Vandy
SO - Terrence Hill Jr - VCU
SO - Labaron Philon - Bama
JR - Barrington Hargress - Colorado
JR - Aden Holloway - Bama
SO - John Mobley Jr - Ohio St
Pure PG
SO - Christian Anderson - Texas Tech
JR - Colby Garland - San Jose St
FR - Acaden Lewis - Villanova
SO - Joshua Dent - St Mary's
FR - Nigel James Jr - Marquette
If he did, would this staff be smart enough to go after himHe is I honestly don’t see guys like him entering would think most like where they are at and the school would ante up before they enter. BUT different age now it’s all money now
I understand differing opinions, but it seems to me that “couldn’t compete” is way too strong. I think even without a true PG, the combination of Aberdeen, Oweh, Wilkerson and Lendeborg would be tough to match offensively. Maybe Wilkerson would have some defensive issues in certain situations, but otherwise I’d be ok with Moreno and Garrison at the 5 against Arz. or Duke.Still don't think they could compete with AZ or duke
lol well one would hope so.If he did, would this staff be smart enough to go after him
Anderson is late first so I think he stays another year IMOI left off Anderson and Phillion because both are concensus first rounders.
He only plays CG because of Thornton he will be the PG wherever he goesHe's a combo like Aberdeen.
Thornton is the primary OG for OSU.
He was #16 on ESPN updated mock.Anderson is late first so I think he stays another year IMO