Mark Pope won the news conference and his schematic bona fides are not in question. So there’s really just one question about Kentucky’s new coach: Can he actually get players?
Pope took a huge step toward answering that unknown Tuesday when he flipped the commitment of former blue-chip recruit Collin Chandler.
Pope’s first recruiting victory as the Wildcats’ new coach is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Farmington, Utah, who was ranked the No. 30 prospect in the Class of 2022, per the Recruiting Services Consensus Index. Chandler, the former Mr. Basketball in Utah, was a longtime BYU commitment who spent the last two years serving a Mormon mission.
That means UK is getting a 21-year-old freshman.
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‘We are here to win banners’: Mark Pope makes Kentucky fans believers in rousing intro
Chandler originally picked BYU, where Pope was the coach until the Cats called him home last week. He picked the Cougars over a list of finalists that included Arizona, Gonzaga, Oregon, Stanford and Utah. He averaged 21.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals as a senior in high school.
Chandler is a smooth shooting guard who can dribble, pass and shoot. He’s an aggressive driver and good outside shooter, a legitimate three-level scorer.
The biggest question about Chandler is how long it’ll take to shake off the rust from his mission, but landing a player of this caliber right out of the gate is a great start for Pope, who has a lot more work to do to rebuild Kentucky’s roster. Since John Calipari left for Arkansas, there has been a mass exodus.
Collin Chandler wants to raise two things at Kentucky: banners and chickens, and he’s all out of chickens (after eating this one, I presume). pic.twitter.com/uBSmivMrWm
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) April 16, 2024
Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell are out of eligibility; Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards and Ugonna Onyenso declared for the NBA Draft; DJ Wagner, Adou Thiero, Joey Hart, Aaron Bradshaw (Ohio State) and Zvonimir Ivisic (Arkansas) hit the transfer portal. That leaves only Reed Sheppard, a potential top-10 pick, who is weighing his stay-or-go decision, and deep reserve Jordan Burks as the only scholarship players who haven’t publicly expressed plans to leave.
Most of Calipari’s second-ranked recruiting class is also gone. Five-stars Karter Knox, Jayden Quaintance and Boogie Fland, plus four-star Somto Cyril, have requested releases from their national letters of intent. Five-star Billy Richmond and four-star, in-state guard Travis Perry are the two previous Kentucky commitments who so far have not.
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At his introductory news conference Sunday, Pope said he’s talking to “every player in the portal right now. We are going to find the guys that fit here, the way we play, and the guys that will come here and understand what a gift it is to play here at the University of Kentucky.” He is armed with at least $4 million in recent pledges from boosters for name, image and likeness.
Pope said he planned to go home after that dizzying day at Rupp Arena and “jump on the phone and start to recruit. And every call will be an incredible moment, because kids are answering a little bit different when I talk about Kentucky.”
Required reading
(Photo: Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
