These are the top transfer portal targets for new Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope
Career timeline: New University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope played two years for the Cats before playing in the NBA for 6 seasons. He has coached since 2009 at Georgia, Wake Forest, Utah Valley and BYU.
Mark Pope will take his new post as the Kentucky men’s basketball coach with plenty to do from a roster-building perspective.
Essentially, Pope will have to build a brand-new roster in Lexington for the 2024-25 season. His predecessor, John Calipari, left UK with plenty of roster uncertainty between players potentially leaving via the NCAA transfer portal and for the NBA draft. UK’s most experienced players, Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves, are out of college eligibility.
The six players in Calipari’s 2024 recruiting class at Kentucky are also expected to go their separate ways, aside from potentially in-state prospect Travis Perry.
In short, Pope arrives in Lexington with a blank canvas to work with to construct next season’s Wildcats. Pope has a history of using the NCAA transfer portal with success at BYU. During Pope’s five seasons in Provo, some of his most impactful players were acquired via the portal.
This group includes Alex Barcello (Arizona), Te’Jon Lucas (Milwaukee), Rudi Williams (Kansas State and Coastal Carolina) and Jaxson Robinson (Arkansas). Robinson led the Cougars in scoring with more than 14 points per game last season.
There’s also the context of the school that Pope was recruiting transfers to: BYU has a religious affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although Pope has recruited a wide variety of players in both high school and transfer portal recruiting.
With all of this in mind, here’s a look at the top 10 players currently available in the NCAA transfer portal. Rankings are taken from college basketball statistician Evan Miyakawa and are accurate as of Friday morning.
After spending his first college season at Gonzaga, Ballo transferred to Arizona to play for former Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd. Ballo has played the last three seasons for the Wildcats.
A 7-foot, 260-pound center, Ballo will be entering his sixth season of college basketball after redshirting the 2019-20 season. Ballo was a first-team All-Pac112 selection in each of the last two seasons.
According to On3, Ballo has recruiting visits scheduled for Indiana, Kansas State and Louisville, with Florida and North Carolina also under consideration. Ballo was a four-star recruit in the 2019 recruiting class.
