Kentucky: Mark Pope sign two years contract with….Mark Pope hasn’t been the head basketball coach of the Kentucky Wildcats for a very long time, but he has done an incredible job putting his first roster together quickly.
He has already added eight transfer portal players as Lamont Butler, Amari Williams, Kerr Kriisa, Andrew Carr, Otega Oweh, Ansley Almonor, Brandon Garrison, and Koby Brea all chose the Wildcats.
The Wildcats brought in all of these experienced players from the transfer portal but are still ranked as the 19th-best transfer portal recruiting class according to On3.
This is how On3 says their rankings are determined, “On3’s Team Transfer Portal Index utilizes the On3 (P)erformance score to measure a team’s production during the transfer process, compared relative against its roster and not a comparison against other schools. This proprietary algorithm determines if a school has improved its overall team talent, stayed the same, or declined in talent during the transfer window.”
This system seems a bit flawed to me as, yes, Kentucky was more talented stars-wise last season, but this team has the making of a Final Four team, knowing they have solid defensive players and veterans. This has been the recipe to win a National Championship, and Coach Pope will have that on his first roster.
Sports isn’t all about computer metrics. It is about the eyeball test. Last season, Kentucky had a lot of talent, and it didn’t amount to anything. Now, Coach Pope is recruiting a different roster than we have seen at Kentucky in a long time, but it is the type of roster that succeeds in today’s game.
I have a feeling when it is all said and done, we can look back at these rankings and this class for the Wildcats will have performed much better than 19th.
