When Mark Pope became the new head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats, he essentially had zero players on the roster and had to start from square one.
However, with so few high school players remaining, Pope had to utilize the transfer portal in order to build his first roster in Lexington.
In fact, Pope has landed the most transfers this offseason, as they are bringing in nine total for the 2024-25 season.
247 Sports recently released their transfer portal class rankings, and the Wildcats found themselves at No. 4 overall after the addition of Jaxson Robinson.
“Kentucky added another major transfer pickup as a result of the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline as former BYU wing Jaxson Robinson made the decision to follow head coach Mark Pope to the Wildcats for the 2024-25 season. Kentucky now sits at nine incoming transfers — all of which but one rate as four-stars — as it pieces together a roster. No college basketball program has more four-star transfers this cycle than the Wildcats. Former McDonald’s All-American Brandon Garrison headlines the haul as a 6-foot-11, 245-pound big man that flashed as a true freshman at Oklahoma State last season. Former San Diego State point guard Lamont Butler Jr. and former Oklahoma wing Otega Oweh also rank as top-50 transfer additions for the Wildcats. The start of the new era in Lexington is promising.”
As for the other three teams ahead of the Cats, John Calipari and Arkansas sit at No. 1 with Indiana and Rick Pitino’s St. John’s at No. 2 and No. 3.
You can check out the entire transfer portal class rankings here.