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Whether incoming Kentucky coach Mark Pope will be able to draw elite players was the big question mark when John Calipari left for Arkansas in April, having signed 52 5-star recruits in 15 years.
Pope is definitely well on his way to answering those concerns in 2025 after being having to rely heavily on the transfer site for his first recruiting class, which 247Sports ranked among the top-5 transfer classes in NCAA basketball.
After Atlanta (Ga.) Overtime Elite 5-star shooting guard Jasper Johnson committed to the Wildcats last week, Pope—who had only been the UK coach for five months—became the only coach in the nation with two commitments among the top 25 in the 2025 class.
On Wednesday, he became the only coach with two 5-star commitments for 2025 when Georgetown (Ky.) Great Crossing center Malachi Moreno was elevated to a 5-star prospect when the new industry average 247Sports Composite rankings were released.
Moreno (6-11, 230), who became Kentucky’s first 2025 commitment back in August, jumped two spots from No. 26 to No. 24 overall. Johnson, meanwhile, dropped four spots from No. 10 overall to No. 14.
Currently, the Wildcats’ 2025 class ranks No. 3 nationally in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting rankings behind only Iowa State and Marquette, who have three and four commitments, respectively.
“We had a fun week,” Pope told ESPN’s Ryan McGee during an appearance on SEC Nation Saturday prior to Kentucky’s football game vs. South Carolina at Kroger Field. “It’s the Kentucky way and we’re really fortunate. Right now, we’re guys who understand Kentucky and want to wear this jersey and know what ‘KY til I die’ means and it’s pretty cool. I love it. It’s really special. There’s nowhere in the world like Kentucky basketball. It’s just different. It’s different.”
And Kentucky isn’t done.
Pope has the Cats in contention with several other elite prospects in the 2025 class, including ones outside the state of Kentucky.
UK is hosting top-5 prospect and Atlanta (Ga.) Holy Innocents 5-star power forward Caleb Wilson for an official visit this weekend. Branson (Mo.) Link Academy 5-star center Chris Cenac and Daytona Beach (Fla.) DME Academy 5-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. will both take official visits to Lexington the weekend of Sept. 27, and Santa Maria (Calif.) St. Joseph 5-star forward Tounde Yessoufou will take an official visit to Kentucky for Big Blue Madness next month.
