The Kansas Jayhawks and Kentucky Wildcats were taken on quite the ride as they awaited the commitment of the No. 1 player of the 2026 class, Tyran Stokes. Stokes ultimately chose Kansas, leaving Kentucky searching for other ways to bolster their roster.
Mark Pope and Kentucky have been swinging and missing on recruits and transfers. After Stokes’ commitment, college basketball insider Jeff Goodman went after Pope’s inability to secure talent.
Jeff Goodman Shreds Mark Pope After Tyran Stokes Chooses Kansas
The Wildcats have been searching for answers after a disappointing 2025 season in which they were only a No. 7 seed and were trounced in the second round of March Madness.
Unfortunately, they’ve come up short on many fronts. They were hoping Stokes would be a change of fortune until he broke their hearts just like the others. Goodman shot it straight on the reality at Kentucky: they need more talent, and today is a depressing day for the Wildcats.
“Big Blue Nation is going to be breathing down Mark Pope’s neck,” Goodman said. “I’m not saying it was going to work [if Stokes committed], but at least if he got Tyran Stokes, the preseason would have come with a lot more fanfare, right? There would have been a lot more excitement in the preseason with the No. 1 player in the country, which is what Tyran Stokes is — a talented forward who can do everything,” Goodman said.
“He comes with some red flags. We know that his body language at times sucks to players, teammates, coaches, refs, so I don’t know if it would have worked. I actually really don’t believe it would have worked that well between Mark Pope and Tyran Stokes. However, again, if you’re a Kentucky fan and you’re looking at this roster right now, it’s pretty underwhelming. They need a dude. And Tyran Stokes is a dude. And that’s the thing: I’d rather have talent [with red flags] than not be talented enough and at least roll the dice with that talent and say like, ‘Let’s see what we can do. Let’s see.’
“Maybe Mo Williams, their new assistant coach, [could have] handled Tyran Stokes. Maybe that’s what would have happened here, is Mark Pope puts Mo in charge of of Tyran Stokes since Mo played in the NBA for a long time and is probably not quite as positive as Pope is. Maybe that thing would have worked. I don’t know.
“But if I’m a Kentucky fan, I’m depressed today.”
The future looks bleak for Kentucky as they are bringing in just one freshman and three transfers for next season. Their recruiting class ranks just 61st in 247Sports’ recruiting rankings. Stokes would have done wonders for their recruiting class, bringing them from poor for a blueblood program to a very respectable class that includes the best high school player in the nation.
Goodman discussed that Pope’s coaching style and personality might not have been a perfect mesh with Stokes. But Kentucky needs to add talent to put themselves back at the table with all the blueblood programs. Stokes is a very talented player that the Wildcats could use regardless of the potential concerns about the fit. He is just a symptom of the problem that is unfolding at Pope’s Kentucky.
Pope has brought in some impact guards in the transfer portal, though. Alex Wilkins from Furman is going to have a huge role to play alongside Zoom Diallo from the University of Washington.
Wilkins averaged 17.8 points and 4.7 assists as a freshman showed that he can hang with the best in college basketball as Furman gave UConn some trouble in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Diallo can score the ball at a high level, too. He ended the season scoring 21+ points in four of his final five games. Diallo and Wilkins will be one of the intriguing newly formed backcourts to watch next season.
As for where Kentucky goes from here, Goodman mentioned Allen Graves as a “perfect” player to target, while also urging Pope to consider overseas options.
The Wildcats have talent, but not nearly as much as some of the Wildcat rosters under John Calipari. They’ll have to overcome many of their tough recruiting misses — Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman and BYU’s Robert Wright III — in the upcoming season as Pope looks to prove some of the insiders wrong. There are a few impact players left in the portal that are still in the draft (including Milan Momcilovic, whom Goodman also mentioned as a fit), so Pope may try to pivot there for some last-minute additions.
