4-Point Play: Mark Pope finally catches his breath
Three weeks following his arrival and introduction as Kentucky’s next head coach, Mark Pope is finally able to take a step back and catch his breath. It’s been all gas and no brakes since the minute he arrived in Lexington with early mornings and late nights, desperate to build a competitive coaching staff and roster to put the Wildcats back in position to make a run next March — a goal he’s not shying away from, embracing the championship standard his role comes with.
That started with a four-man coaching staff including Alvin Brooks III, Cody Fueger, Jason Hart and Mark Fox, followed by a nine-man roster that includes Amari Williams, Lamont Butler, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carr, Brandon Garrison, Koby Brea and Kerr Kriisa.
Now, there is still work to do — one full-time assistant and a complete support staff, plus as many as four scholarship spots to fill — but it’s fair to say the core groups of both have been accounted for. That gives Pope a chance to hit pause and regroup, evaluating specific needs to round things out. Part of that includes hitting on a piece or two currently testing the draft waters — namely BYU’s Jaxson Robinson and North Florida’s Chaz Lanier.
You’ve got roles two or three through ten or eleven taken care of, but you’ve got room to swing for the fences for some star talent at the top of the rotation.
“There are some players that are taking a little bit longer because they’re fully engaged in draft workouts, and they’re trying to consider what path is going to be best for them,” Pope said last week. “These last few pieces will probably be a little bit more meticulous with and might not come at the torrid pace the rest of the group did.”
Will Riley plans Kentucky visit as potential reclass candidate
Robinson and Lanier are the instant-impact pieces Kentucky fans are drooling over, but what about some outside-the-box options? Could 2025 five-star guard Will Riley be one of them?
Well, the top-10 recruit is a serious reclass candidate for 2024 and is planning a visit to Lexington, narrowing his options to four with the Wildcats still in contention. Kentucky joins Alabama, Arkansas and Arizona among finalists, “the four schools I’m focused on right now,” he told On3’s Jamie Shaw.
What does he think about Pope and the new staff in Lexington? He’s intrigued, studying what they did together at BYU and seeing what the vision is now at Kentucky.
“I’ve only been in contact with the new coaches there a couple of times. They have been in contact more with my mom so far. They like my style of play,” he said. “If you watch Coach Pope’s film at BYU, they play like a video game style. They take a lot of shots, a lot of three-point shots and they play in transition. So that style suits my style of play.”
Riley, a 6-9 small forward out of Ontario, is rated as the No. 9 overall prospect in the 2025 On3 Player Rankings. He’s a potential name to watch in the coming months as Pope puts the final touches on his debut roster in Lexington.
Caleb Lohner commits to Utah… for football
We know someone who will not be joining Pope at Kentucky — or anyone on the hardwood, for that matter. Baylor transfer Caleb Lohner is taking his talents to the gridiron, announcing he’ll be playing football at Utah as a super senior in 2024-25 for his final season of eligibility.
Lohner played two seasons at BYU for Pope before making the move to Baylor where he suited up for new Kentucky assistant Alvin Brooks III. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to connect those dots, the Wildcats immediately emerging as a name of interest for the 6-8 forward out of Flower Mound, TX, certainly considering his best years came in Provo, averaging 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest from 2020-22. He saw his role take a serious hit in Waco, playing just 12.2 minutes per game as a junior, then a career-low 9.2 minutes as a senior for a combined 2.8 points and 2.9 rebounds for the Bears.
When looking for a fresh start, Lexington made sense to reunite with Pope and fill one of those final roster spots, a key bench piece and veteran presence with 131 career games and 44 starts — all at BYU. Instead, he’s returning to Utah where he committed to play basketball originally in high school, only to play tight end and “potentially contribute on the court, as well.”
His heart is on the field after four years on the court. Pope will have to find his bench help elsewhere.
Chaz Lanier receives G League Elite Camp invite
As for one of the aforementioned star talents testing the draft waters with Kentucky interest, Chaz Lanier received some news on his end that will delay any potential college decision, should he decide to pull his name out and return to school.
Originally passed up for the NBA Draft Combine while also being left off the initial 44-man list for the G League Elite Camp, he received a follow-up invite to the latter event on Monday. Taking place May 11 in Chicago, standouts from those scrimmages will be invited to the the Combine from May 12-19 in hopes of improving their draft stock. Lanier, who averaged 19.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33.4 minutes per game at North Florida, shooting 51.0% from the field and 44.0% from three.
Tennessee is seen as the favorite to land the 6-4 guard with Kentucky and Maryland seen as other contenders for the dynamic scorer out of Nashville. He will have until May 29 to withdraw from the draft and maintain his college eligibility.
That’s a guy you push all of your chips in for if the door is even slightly cracked. For now, though, he’s trying his luck at the NBA, a process that could last another few weeks. The same can be said for Jaxson Robinson, who was invited to the Combine on May 4 and is also seen as a major Kentucky target.
Mark Pope visits local high schools
So what is Coach Pope doing until some of these decisions are made? Checking out local Lexington high schools, of course, seen at Lexington Catholic on Monday.
KSR photographer Aaron Perkins, who works at Lexington Catholic, snagged a picture with the man himself while roaming the hallways.
Up-and-coming local hoopers better be on the lookout, you never know when Coach Pope is walking through that door.
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