The Kentucky Wildcats are set to tip off their 2024-25 season soon as Mark Pope and his staff look to make some noise in their first season in Lexington.
Despite the play on the court, the staff has started to gain some traction on the recruiting trail and could be looking at making a few major splashes in the coming weeks. As it stands, it looks like the question has been answered: Can Mark Pope recruit at Kentucky?
Yes, he can.
As we head into the early signing period in the next week, who are some potential players that could join Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno in the class? Let’s take a deep dive into the remaining players on the Cats’ radar for 2025.
One of the bigger question marks in terms of potential additions to the 2025 class comes from Mikel Brown.
A talented point guard who ranks inside the top-15 in the class, Brown recently took a visit to Lexington alongside Chris Cenac at the end of September. Since then, things have been relatively quiet surrounding the Cats’ involvement in this one.
Overall, this seems to be a recruitment that is trending towards being a late decision. He currently has visits set up to UCF, Arizona, and Louisville in the coming months and likely won’t make his decision until after those by all reports.
The latest 247 Sports Crystal Ball has only one prediction for Brown, with that selection being for Ole Miss put into the system back in February by an Ole Miss writer.
However, On3 reporter Jamie Shaw recently predicted that the Louisville Cardinals will win this recruitment.
We will need to circle back to this one in a few months to see where the Cats stand.
The recruitment of Brayden Burries has been relatively quiet, with all signs pointing to this being a late signing period commitment.
However, the top-15 combo guard out of San Bernardino (CA) has quite a few options. With visits to Arizona, Alabama, and SMU, it will be interesting to see if the Cats start to pick up on this recruitment overall.
With Jasper Johnson in the fold and them trending for Acaden Lewis, it would likely be smart for the BBN to temper expectations in this one.
With plenty of time left, though, and with the potential for a great season from a player currently on the roster that could push them to the NBA, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the staff and Burries keep this open.
The only prediction of any kind that’s come out for Burries is from On3’s Jamie Shaw, who picked the Arizona Wildcats.
If there was a betting favorite for the next player to commit to the Cats, it’s Acaden Lewis. Not only is he the only recruit in this list with an announcement date set (Nov. 2nd), but all the buzz around this recruitment screams Kentucky.
Lewis is down to the final three schools of Duke, UCONN, and UK, with recent visits to all three campuses over the last month. Not only did Mark Pope and his staff secure the final visit before the announcement, but they have made it abundantly clear that he is their top option of guards left in this class.
Well, it appears that wish is going to become a reality, as the 4-star guard has multiple predictions at Rivals, On3, and 247 Sports for the Cats to win out.
On3’s Jamie Shaw picked Kentucky with a 60% confidence level.
The BBN might be celebrating this recruiting win sooner rather than later.
Of the names on this list, Nate Ament joins Brayden Burries as the two players with the quietest recruitment to this point.
The 5-star wing is considered a top-five player in the country and holds offers from practically every high-major school you can think of. Still, the direction of this one seems to be a mystery.
Coach Pope recently visited Ament, but the extent to which this recruitment will be taken seriously still seems to be up in the air.
For the longest time the two schools that always seem to be mentioned are Duke and Virginia. With no more Tony Bennett, will that help the Cavaliers or take them out of the running? Still too early to tell on this one.
On3’s Jamie Shaw recently picked the Duke Blue Devils to win this battle.
With recent visits to Texas and Louisville, as well as Arkansas getting into the mix it seems, the Cats will have an uphill battle in this recruitment.
Acaden Lewis might be the most popular name among BBN at the moment, but a very close second is Caleb Wilson.
After an official visit in early September, the 5-star forward has generated a lot of buzz about the Cats. Despite that buzz, he has continued his due diligence in this recruitment with recent visits to Tennessee and North Carolina.
Now, with a visit to Arkansas on deck, things might start to get murky.
Once seen as a heavy lean to play for John Calipari at Kentucky, that presumption also followed Coach Cal when he left for Arkansas. This raises the question for the BBN: Will the visit shift the momentum? It is quite possible, but the smoke continues to be in the Cats’ favor at the moment.
Reports have started to slowly come out of how good the Cats position is in this recruitment, and with a potential decision coming over the next few months that is a good spot to be in.
At the moment, one 247 Sports Crystal Ball pick is in favor of Kentucky. However, the top-five recruit also landed a prediction from Jacob Polacheck of KSR/On3 to ultimately choose UK.
Finally, On3’s Jamie Shaw picked Kentucky to win out, but only with a 30% confidence level.
It appears this one will come down to Kentucky, North Carolina, and Arkansas. Let’s see if Pope can win out.
One of the more intriguing prospects for Kentucky in the 2025 class is 5-star center Cenac.
The top-10recruit out of Link Academy, originally from Baton Rouge, has quite a few options to choose from, all in the SEC. What makes it wilder is that it seems that each program has a puncher’s chance. That is quite a good thing for the Cats.
Down to a final list of seven schools which includes UK alongside, LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas, Baylor, Auburn, and Houston, the talented center has visited or has a scheduled visit to all of his finalist (except for Baylor) with a likely decision coming in the spring.
At the moment, this recruitment seems too foggy for anyone to submit any picks. On3’s Jamie Shaw was only willing to log a prediction of Tennessee or LSU with a confidence level of 20%. By all accounts, it seems like it will come down to one of the UK, LSU, Arkansas, Houston, and Tennessee.
The remaining question for the Kentucky coaching staff is: How do you potentially pair Cenac and Wilson together if you can get the latter locked up soon? I’m not sure they could make that happen, but it would be a huge exclamation point in this 2025 class.
Players with offers but no longer considering Kentucky
There are several players who also hold offers from Kentucky but are no longer considering the Cats, including AJ Dybantsa, Meleek Thomas, Darryn Peterson, and Niko Bundalo.
For players with offers that have committed elsewhere, you have Darius Acuff (Arkansas), Braylon Mullins (UCONN), Cayden Boozer (Duke), Cameron Boozer (Duke), Tounde Yessoufou (Baylor), and Eric Reiner (UCONN).
