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Top portal players are we going after any?

U

UKreturntogreatness

Junior
Nov 19, 2025
130
335
63
I don't see many of these names on the supposed Kentucky leans. Getting another crop of second or third team all conference players, great 6th men, etc. will be a rinse and repeat of this season. To be a top team will take top talent. Right now at least the names I am seeing on this site have me pretty concerned. This is not the time for the maybe they will be good recruits. If we couldn't lure the very best high school players then guys down on the portal list will leave little hope for anything different. We MUST have proven elite.
  1. Flory Bidunga, Kansas
  2. Juke Harris, Wake Forest
  3. John Blackwell, Wisconsin
  4. Paulius Murauskas, St. Mary’s
  5. Neoklis Avdalas, Virginia Tech
  6. PJ Haggerty, Kansas State
  7. Miles Byrd, San Diego State
  8. Isaiah Johnson, Colorado
  9. Aiden Sherrell, Alabama
  10. Somto Cyril, Georgia
 
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F

FitchandMurray29

All-American
Dec 11, 2021
2,455
5,061
61
Wildcat_in_DC said:
#3, #5, #10 PG
#2, #3, #7, #12 SG
#2 SF
#1, #2, #5 PF
#1 CB

with kam williams and moreno locked in and likely chandler. its clear the focus of the staff is on PG, SG/SF, and PF

if folks dont consider these player "studs" who are rated TOPS at their position.....there is nothing you can do to make them happy
Click to expand...
Agree. If I’m being unbiased, I see three “studs” in the portal that this board wouldn’t be arguing over. Flory(wouldn’t make a ton of sense with Moreno), Juke, and Blackwell.

We don’t publicly seem to be much connected to any of them currently. Pretty much every other player in the portal there would be arguments on this board about.
 
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2

20MRoster

All-Conference
Nov 16, 2018
703
1,304
88
Wildcat_in_DC said:
#3, #5, #10 PG
#2, #3, #7, #12 SG
#2 SF
#1, #2, #5 PF
#1 CB

with kam williams and moreno locked in and likely chandler. its clear the focus of the staff is on PG, SG/SF, and PF

if folks dont consider these player "studs" who are rated TOPS at their position.....there is nothing you can do to make them happy
Click to expand...
Hurray Chandler. The guy who begged BYU to take him and got denied 😆😆😆
 
*Fox2Monk*

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
44,872
80,858
113
Blue till I die said:
one can make an argument, the less we hear the better, we can only be patient and see how it plays out
Click to expand...
I agree. Almost every player in the Pope era we have had a public battle or favorite for we have lost, while guys we barely knew we have contacted commit out of nowhere.
 
JwUKFan11

JwUKFan11

Heisman
Nov 11, 2011
7,330
14,877
113
For the first time this portal Tipton said we are a team to watch for “top”. There are more than 10 good players in the portal, I would consider somewhere around the top 50ish the best in the country.
 
Son_Of_Saul

Son_Of_Saul

Heisman
Dec 7, 2007
45,156
98,084
113
JASUN74 said:
I hate to say, if all we’re going after is what KSR is reporting then it’s not looking great to me. Go after the Studs and get them Mark.
Click to expand...
This.

Pope cannot afford to miss both in the portal and in the high school ranks.

I still think we're screwed. You don't let go of three assistant coaches and find their replacements right before the portal opens and have a ton of success there.
 
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TFCat11

TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
5,805
10,263
108
Let me say this one more time…

Mark Pope is not, capital NOT, beating out ANY of the elite (proven) coaches for a single player, HS or portal! Never was, never is!

He’s a lifetime 63% winning coach, and we will field a team of players that will match that! Anyone who thought Pope was just going to waltz into the portal and hand select the best of the best are playing pretend and insulting their own intelligence.

When the smoke clears, and the dust settles in March of 2027, Mark Pope’s 3rd UK team will have a minimum of 12 losses, and if they don’t, I will eat a live crow on a live streaming service, and tell the entire fan base what a complete and utter moron I was, and you can roast me until I go into hiding full of shame!
 
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kyjeff1

kyjeff1

Heisman
Sep 8, 2012
50,579
70,809
113
TFCat11 said:
Let me say this one more time…

Mark Pope is not, capital NOT, beating out ANY of the elite (proven) coaches for a single player, HS or portal! Never was, never is!

He’s a lifetime 63% winning coach, and we will field a team of players that will match that! Anyone who thought Pope was just going to waltz into the portal and hand select the best of the best are playing pretend and insulting their own intelligence.

When the smoke clears, and the dust settles in March of 2027, Mark Pope’s 3rd UK team will have a minimum of 12 losses, and if they don’t, I will eat a live crow on a live streaming service, and tell the entire fan base what a complete and utter moron I was, and you can roast me until I go into hiding full of shame!
Click to expand...
He beat out Hurley and Self for Kobe Brea.
But don't let me stop you from continuing your exaggeration-fest.
 
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mdluk1

mdluk1

All-Conference
Oct 28, 2007
901
4,141
93
We NEED 2 of the top players available. We have to replace Oweh and Aberdeen. That is a lot of minutes and scoring for the top players. You'd think they'd be jumping at the chance.
 
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J

JonathanW2

Senior
Aug 6, 2025
437
661
93
I've not seen
UKreturntogreatness said:
I don't see many of these names on the supposed Kentucky leans. Getting another crop of second or third team all conference players, great 6th men, etc. will be a rinse and repeat of this season. To be a top team will take top talent. Right now at least the names I am seeing on this site have me pretty concerned. This is not the time for the maybe they will be good recruits. If we couldn't lure the very best high school players then guys down on the portal list will leave little hope for anything different. We MUST have proven elite.
  1. Flory Bidunga, Kansas
  2. Juke Harris, Wake Forest
  3. John Blackwell, Wisconsin
  4. Paulius Murauskas, St. Mary’s
  5. Neoklis Avdalas, Virginia Tech
  6. PJ Haggerty, Kansas State
  7. Miles Byrd, San Diego State
  8. Isaiah Johnson, Colorado
  9. Aiden Sherrell, Alabama
  10. Somto Cyril, Georgia
Click to expand...
I've not seen Sherrell or Cyril at the top of any list.
 
C

Cats_2010

Heisman
Jan 8, 2010
11,713
19,880
103
The issues with Pope are too many in number to even care about recruiting. I think you could have given pope Michigan’s team this year and he would have still lost double digits and flamed out in the NCAA. You can tell when a coach has “it”. Pope doesn’t. A roster isn’t going to change that.
 
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JASUN74

JASUN74

All-Conference
May 22, 2008
3,197
4,567
73
Son_Of_Saul said:
This.

Pope cannot afford to miss both in the portal and in the high school ranks.

I still think we're screwed. You don't let go of five assistant coaches and find their replacements right before the portal opens and have a ton of success there.
Click to expand...
By reading the list of players I’ve saw us going after, it screams scared or just not confident in himself enough. I have no idea if those lists are true but I’d at least be going after the top ten players first and they’d all have to turn me down with a don’t ever call me again. 🤣 Actually we should’ve already had a full team by now with all the time we’ve had since we lost in the tournament. They know who’s going in and the agents have no doubt been calling. I don’t know anything at all about anything but seems like a coach at Kentucky would need to turn kids away instead of what we’re seeing now. I hate being and feeling soo negative about this situation. I’m about ready to take a little break for my sanity. lol.
 
JASUN74

JASUN74

All-Conference
May 22, 2008
3,197
4,567
73
FitchandMurray29 said:
Agree. If I’m being unbiased, I see three “studs” in the portal that this board wouldn’t be arguing over. Flory(wouldn’t make a ton of sense with Moreno), Juke, and Blackwell.

We don’t publicly seem to be much connected to any of them currently. Pretty much every other player in the portal there would be arguments on this board about.
Click to expand...
Flory would be the first call to be the starter at center. MM off the bench if I were considering a run at a title. To only win 20 games and lose 15 no.
 
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