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6 hours ago
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Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats put together a strong 2024-25 season. While they didn't make the championship run they were hoping for, there are reasons to be optimistic about the future of the program.
Throughout the course of last year, Kentucky compiled a 24-12 record. After John Calipari left, the program was able to remain competitive and make a run in the NCAA Tournament.
Speaking of the tournament, the Wildcats entered as a No. 3 seed. In the first round of March Madness, Kentucky defeated No. 14 Troy and backed that up with a win over No. 6 Illinois. Their season came to an end with a tough loss against the No. 2 ranked Tennessee Volunteers by a final score of 78-65 in the Sweet 16.
Looking ahead to the future, the Wildcats are not too far away from being a serious contender. With the right recruiting and transfer portal news, Pope will have Kentucky back in the mix very soon.
With that in mind, the Wildcats are currently locked into a batter with the hate rival Louisville Cardinals for an elite 2026 recruiting target.
Tyran Stokes, a five-star small forward from Louisville, is currently being recuited by many high-profile programs. At the top of the list, however, are the Cardinals and Wildcats.
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According to On3 Sports, Louisville leads the pack with a 32.6 percent chance of landing Stokes' commitment. Kentucky, on the other hand, is being given a 28.5 percent chance. In third place right now are the Kansas Jayhawks, who have a 24.4 percent chance of landing the five-star wing.
Right now, Stokes is ranked as the No. 1 small forward in the nation and the No. 1 player in the nation as well.
It's too soon to tell where he will end up committing. Staying in Louisville is clearly of interest to him, but Pope and the Wildcats are not going to give up. There's a lot of work to do, but Kentucky has a fighting chance to land the top recruit in the nation and potentially take the program to the next level.
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