Mark Pope conducted an in-home visit with 4-star PG Tay Kinney at midnight

The very moment the fall recruiting period opened up and the calendar shifted over to Wednesday, Mark Pope was out putting in the legwork.

According to On3’s Joe Tipton, Pope conducted an in-home visit at midnight last night with four-star prospect Tay Kinney. Tipton reports that Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey was also there to meet with Kinney in person. The 6-foot-2 native of Newport, KY, is considered the No. 15 overall recruit and third-best point guard from the 2026 cycle.

Kinney recently cut his list of finalists down to a top eight: Kentucky, Oregon, Texas, Louisville, Kansas, Arkansas, Miami (FL), and Indiana.

Kentucky’s Mark Pope and Louisville’s Pat Kelsey conducted in-home visits with Top-15 recruit Tay Kinney last night at midnight, as soon as the recruiting period began.https://t.co/bw6k17fa9N pic.twitter.com/mQETxTrJfs

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) September 3, 2025

Kinney has already completed official visits with Louisville, Kentucky, Kansas, and Indiana. He has upcoming OVs locked in with Oregon (9/6), Texas (9/12), Miami (9/19), and Arkansas (9/26). Louisville has been trending as the frontrunner in his recruitment, with a few others serving as dark-horse candidates. Arkansas’ John Calipari will host Kinney for his final OV in late September.

All that being said, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope was front and center for several of Kinney’s games on the adidas 3SSB circuit last month. And now, he’s making an effort to visit Kinney in person at the first opportunity available. The Wildcats have remained in the mix despite Louisville’s apparent surge.

“Really good visit,” Kinney told reporters in July about his trip to Kentucky. “The team this year, the way they was practicing, the way they play, that really stood out. We hung out with Pope at their house, went out to dinner, and watched a practice. They play fast, get up and down, and shoot a lot of threes.”

Kinney has said a commitment decision could come before the 2025-26 Overtime Elite season begins this fall. He adds that, despite being signed to adidas and playing for an adidas AAU program, he’s not automatically guaranteed to go to an adidas school. His current partnership with adidas ends after his final high school season wraps up.

Most have assumed Kentucky was out of the running for Kinney at this point — especially with Pope expected to see another talented point guard, Deron Rippey Jr., later on Wednesday for an in-person visit. But Pope clearly doesn’t see it that way.

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