Recruiting musts for 2025.
- Thread starter Elliott Tim
- Start date
We were also told Cal "had to get" DJ Wagner.
Get the best players. If they are within a mile or ocean apart. Fans don't care if the team is all from KY if they lose games.
Jasper Johnson needs to decide whether UK matters to him or not. The staff has been aggressive in recruiting him but aren't going to kiss his *** and wait--they'll be recruiting the best players who WANT to be at Kentucky.
Get the best players. If they are within a mile or ocean apart. Fans don't care if the team is all from KY if they lose games.
Jasper Johnson needs to decide whether UK matters to him or not. The staff has been aggressive in recruiting him but aren't going to kiss his *** and wait--they'll be recruiting the best players who WANT to be at Kentucky.
Will be interesting to see how many frosh Pope takes in this class. We are already going to have three young players that will be sophomores. If he takes those three mentioned then that is almost half the team with really young guys. He has offered three very talented point guards aside from Johnson so have to think he will take one of those. He has offered Bundalo and Cenek, two great fours that anybody would want. Garrison and Oweh would be the only older guys left so have to think he takes two to three transfers? Just don't want that transition year of young, weaker and inexperienced players being the bulk of the roster.
Amen! Pope has made it clear that it has to mean something to put on the Kentucky Jersey. There is one thing I will agree with Cal about, Kentucky isn’t for everyone!
Pope moved on very quickly from Osobor when he wanted a crap ton of money and didn’t want to make a quick decision when a very good Brandon Garrison stepped up and said “I want the opportunity to play for Kentucky”.
As much as I would love to have him, the players must be a good fit. I am sure other coaches are telling him he won’t get as many minutes in this system and they are probably right. However, it isn’t about the minutes, but what you do with them. He could be really efficient and scor 15/game or look like Wagner did at times because he was promised a starting role regardless of how much he sucked.
There are no such things as a recruiting must’s. UConn did not have a single recruiting must on their team the last 2 years.
Wellllllllllllllll im sure hurley has his list of players he “must” get hes just not a slave to the rankings and forcing a square peg in a round hole. Hes building cohesive teams which is what pope is going to try to do here which is how basketball teams are supposed to be built
I think Johnson will be a better fit as a SG than a PG. I like what I see from Mikel Brown at the point. I really hope we get Johnson and Brown. That would be awesome.
Right, what player doesn’t commit the spring before his senior season even starts. He’s clearly playing games and needs to stop stringing along UK and get with the rest of our 2025 recruits.
You can have your opinion. There are a lot of really good players. I have the opinion none are must players.
Thats correct but every coach is going to have the players they want more than others. Thats just human nature. Some coaches are more capable of making players work than others though forsure i agree.
Just because they want them more doesn’t make them a must. The first rule in a deal is to always be willing to walk away. When you make something a must, you are basically saying we cannot succeed without them.
In the days of Wilt and Oscar, when the talent gap was tremendous from the top 1-2 players to the 10th, that may have been the case. However, in 99% of the classes these days, there just isn’t much difference between 1 and 15. Reed was a perfect example of that last year. I don’t think anyone thought he was a must, but he was the most impactful newcomer last year. It would have been disappointing to lose him, but he wasn’t a must.
Not what I said at all. What I'm talking about is this notion with some fans who are obsessed with KY kids being on the team. If he wants to be here and they want him-fine. If not....so be it. I could give 2 ****s about where prospects are from. Know that's the norm but don't make any apologies for it. I just want to see the team win. If that means a PG from VA or a PG from Paducah, fine. But this odd feeling like Pope has to sign all these KY kids and wait for them because they are from KY is not how to run this program.
I'm as excited to hear about Mikel Brown and Acaden Lewis as I am Jasper Johnson. His dad playing at UK doesn't mean a damn thing to me. If he chooses UK, then great.
They’re all Kentucky kids when they put on that uniform.
IMO Kentucky kids are more likely to stay instead of hitting the portal
He is a very good Ky player and I hope he plays at Ky. They will emphasize that he is a priority recruit because he is an exceptional basketball player who is also a Ky boy. They will play up the family and state ties. Hopefully that wins him over. However, they shouldn’t kiss his ***.
They will wait an appropriate time and if they get a commitment from another point guard, let’s say Brown, and shooting guard, let’s say Peterson, who are both exceptional players before he makes a decision then who is to blame if Johnson says he would have come, but they already have people at his position?
At some point, the love needs to be reciprocated or you move on. If he wants to play at Ky and it means something to him, he should not put Ky in a position of waiting until everyone else has committed. If it doesn’t mean anything to him to play for Ky, then he is no different than any other recruit. He may get a call prior to accepting another SG recruits commitment to see if he wants to commit, but I don’t think they will or should wait forever.
They will wait an appropriate time and if they get a commitment from another point guard, let’s say Brown, and shooting guard, let’s say Peterson, who are both exceptional players before he makes a decision then who is to blame if Johnson says he would have come, but they already have people at his position?
At some point, the love needs to be reciprocated or you move on. If he wants to play at Ky and it means something to him, he should not put Ky in a position of waiting until everyone else has committed. If it doesn’t mean anything to him to play for Ky, then he is no different than any other recruit. He may get a call prior to accepting another SG recruits commitment to see if he wants to commit, but I don’t think they will or should wait forever.
We hear ya King James. You are welcome to move on to what ever hole you crawled out of.
Johnson said he is going to AL this weekend then ILL next week. Also said he may schedule a visit with Calipari. Thought he would be all in on UK, like no doubt about where he wants to go, with this new offense and his ties to UK. Sounds like he wants to make sure UK is the right fit for him. Glad we have other top guards that we could get if he goes somewhere else.
I am guilty of wanting talented Kentucky kids to stay home and play for the Cats. I think it’s something only us Kentucky boys can really understand. It probably sounds crazy to out of state fans, but it’s really exciting to me to see a kid from the Bluegrass put on the Blue and White. It reminds me of when I was a kid and how I use to shoot all day on my hoop at home dreaming of wearing “Kentucky” across my chest.
If Johnson doesn’t want to be here, so be it, but until he decides to go elsewhere, I think he should be top priority. If a kid is that good and is from Kentucky, he needs to be top priority.
And the fact that his dad played here, that makes him an even bigger priority for me.
That’s just my opinion. From the perspective of a born and raised in rural Kentucky fan.
And I have Moreno as priority number 1B. A skilled big man from Kentucky? Those don’t come along very often. Can’t let him get away either.
If Johnson doesn’t want to be here, so be it, but until he decides to go elsewhere, I think he should be top priority. If a kid is that good and is from Kentucky, he needs to be top priority.
And the fact that his dad played here, that makes him an even bigger priority for me.
That’s just my opinion. From the perspective of a born and raised in rural Kentucky fan.
And I have Moreno as priority number 1B. A skilled big man from Kentucky? Those don’t come along very often. Can’t let him get away either.
He is and should be a priority. The question is if he isn’t making a decision until after some others you really covet(Brown, Peterson level guys) say they want to come, do you not take their commitment, if you think it will drive him away?
Not going to be a popular statement but " It is all about the money for most of these kids today". Even some of the Ky kids. Playing for the home school went out the window when the NIL came along.
I would like to have a lot of Kentucky kids on the roster every year if at least most of them have the talent to contribute to a championship. But, if there is a great out of state player that wants to be a Cat now I don't see how you could tell him to wait. We want the most talented players we can get that want to be here the most.
If pope views Darryn peterson and JJ as 2 guards and Peterson is ready to commit you absolutely take him and let the chips fall where they may.
Shouldn’t be a problem, we are going to have at least 7 scholarships open. We have plenty of room. If it scares Johnson, so be it. I’m just saying he should be top priority, not the only priority.
Get them both. Play them together. I think they both want to play the 1. They are both big enough to play some at the 3. We are going to need bodies in 25-26.
I LOVE TO HEAR IT!!! Jasper is really good no doubt, but he’s not the end all either. Plenty of really good players out there that would die for the chance to play for UK!
Johnson and Malicah Omar Moreno is visiting for a UK basketball practice today. If I really wanted to go to UK and UK really wanted me I wouldn't wait because Pope is literally connecting with every top player in the class and most are very interested in UK. Probably only 4 or 5 slots open for a high school guy with Pope probably hitting the portal for a few guys so we aren't too young to win it all.
I think he will sign at least 5 in this class.
This is one of the most talented and deepest classes in recent history.