Monday’s basketball-related news was rather unpleasant for Kentucky.
Boogie Fland re-opened his recruitment, Aaron Bradshaw transferred to Ohio State, Zvonimir Ivisic transferred to Arkansas, D.J. Wagner entered the transfer portal and Ugonna Onyenso declared for the NBA Draft.
The bad news here is Kentucky could very well end up losing Fland for good, which would really hurt the team’s recruiting class for this fall.
It’s also not the greatest result that Bradshaw, Ivisic, Onyenso and Wagner (assuming he doesn’t return to Kentucky) all four will be off the roster. While the four didn’t really amount to much last season, they were being looked at for significant growth in year two at UK.
This also puts the heat on new head coach Mark Pope a bit since he’s having to work twice as hard to complete his staff but also work some magic in the transfer portal.
If — and it’s a very large if — Reed Sheppard comes back, the Wildcats will have two Kentucky Mr. Basketball winners in their backcourt with he and incoming freshman Travis Perry.
There’s also the slim possibility Adou Thiero makes his return to Lexington.
Former BYU big man Aly Khalifa is expected to make his transfer decision soon while Drexel Dragons forward Amari Williams will meet with Pope in the next week.
Kentucky also has their eye on Oklahoma State Cowboys guard Javon Small, TCU big man JaKobe Coles, Northern Illinois Huskies guard David Coit and Dayton Flyers guard Koby Brea.
David Cobb with CBS Sports listed the country’s top-60 players in the transfer portal, with some of these sounding like perfect fits for the Pope system.
There’s a lot of work to be done, but Pope clearly has the passion to bring Kentucky back to the promise land and fans have to absolutely love that.
Another Wildcat departs.
Pope Girls Have Unique Impact On New Kentucky Coach – Vaught’s Views
Their family is terrific.
Caitlin Clark taken by Fever, Angel Reese heading to Sky – CBS Sports
No surprise here.
21 former Kentucky Wildcats make the NBA postseason – KSR
Will one end up winning it all?
Schedule & predictions for 2024 NBA play-in tournament – USA Today
Anthony Davis suits up tonight.
Kentucky WBB adds North Carolina transfer wing Teonni Key – KSR
Kenny Brooks is on a roll.
Just how great can he be?
Andru Phillips might be second-round lock in 2024 NFL Draft – KSR
Excited for him.
U.S. basketball finalizing ‘24 Paris Olympics roster – ESPN
Couple of former Wildcats listed.
The numbers behind Kentucky‘s loss to Ohio State in Madison Square Garden are ugly. Mark Pope even acknowledged the discrepancies in his postgame comments fr
The Kentucky Wildcats returned to New York City for the CBS Sports Classic, this time facing Ohio State in Madison Square Garden. The Wildcats played far fro
NEW YORK — We’ve seen how well Kentucky basketball plays and how high it can soar when it's running on all cylinders. They lead the NCAA in scoring, averagi
Otega Oweh scored 21 points, but No. 4. Kentucky lost to Ohio State 85-65 on Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. Oweh