New Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope talks to the media during his introductory press conference at Rupp Arena on Sunday, April 14, 2024.
A Packed house turned out for Pope’s introduction in Lexington. BY JOHN CLAY| UK ATHLETICS During John Calipari’s 15-season run as the Kentucky men’s basketball coach, the Wildcats recruited at an elite level, securing commitments from 47 McDonald’s All-Americans from March 2009 until his exit last spring. For most of that time Calipari employed a distinct recruiting approach: The former Kentucky coach was deliberate in extending scholarship offers to prospects. Often, a Kentucky offer from Calipari wouldn’t be dished out until a recruit had made a visit to Lexington. That trend changed toward the end of Calipari’s UK tenure, with the now-Arkansas coach being more willing to extend scholarship offers to class of 2024 players at an earlier stage in the recruiting process. The early stages of Mark Pope’s time as the UK basketball coach have shown a similar willingness to extend scholarship offers to prospects earlier, rather than later, in their recruitments. Already, the Wildcats have four scholarship offers out to prospects in the 2026 recruiting class. These are players who are about to begin their junior years of high school. Three of these recruits — Tyran Stokes, Brandon McCoy and Caleb Holt — are five-star prospects according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. The other, Miikka Muurinen, is a four-star recruit. As part of an offseason that included assembling a brand-new roster (largely via the NCAA transfer portal), putting together a coaching staff and identifying class of 2025 recruits to pursue, Pope and UK have already carved out time to begin recruiting class of 2026 players. Coaches are now allowed to contact class of 2026 recruits as well, meaning Pope and his assistants are the ones trying to sell their vision of the UK program to these talented teenagers. Plenty of activity will still come in the recruitments of each of these players, and new names to know in the class of 2026 will continue to come to the surface.
As part of an offseason that included assembling a brand-new roster (largely via the NCAA transfer portal), putting together a coaching staff and identifying class of 2025 recruits to pursue, Pope and UK have already carved out time to begin recruiting class of 2026 players. Coaches are now allowed to contact class of 2026 recruits as well, meaning Pope and his assistants are the ones trying to sell their vision of the UK program to these talented teenagers. Plenty of activity will still come in the recruitments of each of these players, and new names to know in the class of 2026 will continue to come to the surface.
But for now, here’s a look at the four players in the class of 2026 that Kentucky basketball has extended a scholarship offer to. Players are listed in order of their 247Sports Composite ranking.
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