Kentucky basketball’s Mark Pope doesn’t like ‘yes men’ in his program
Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach Mark Pope doesn’t like “yes men” in his program because he wants to help his players grow by challenging them.
- Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is using a more strategic recruiting approach, focusing on player fit and development rather than just offering large NIL deals.
- Pope’s detailed presentations, including analytical charts and game film analysis, demonstrate his commitment to individual player improvement, which resonated with transfers Denzel Aberdeen and Mouhamed Dioubate.
Recruiting college basketball transformed with name, image and likeness and now direct payments from schools where more decisions are made based on dollar signs than relationships.
Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is proving with his approach that there’s still room for reason. His unique pitch to players allows him to be much more tactical about whom he pursues.
He’s not producing the assembly line of one-and-dones that was the norm for 15 seasons under former coach John Calipari. To the contrary, Pope’s roster construction is like upgrading to automated robots that are much more precise.
Pope’s philosophy produced what 247 Sports ranked as the No. 4 overall recruiting class for 2025 nationally and the fifth-best transfer class, respectively. (For those keeping score, Arkansas ranked sixth overall.)
Sure, UK has the resources to make an intriguing monetary pitch to any player, but if it were just about having money to throw around, a place like Texas A&M would be a championship factory even in hoops.
Pope makes it about the why.
Denzel Aberdeen was valued by a lot of high-major schools. The reserve guard, who won the 2025 national title with Florida, could have stayed put anticipating a larger role with the Gators after the graduation of Walter Clayton Jr. and Alijah Martin.
Aberdeen’s average doubled to 14.4 points per game in the five starts he made due to injuries last season. The potential was there for him to be a featured guard.
Instead, he was convinced that joining UK was the best fit for him, even though his role could end up being similar to what he did last season at Florida. Aberdeen knew the moment he got off a Zoom call with Pope.
“It was definitely unique; our phone call lasted about three hours,” Aberdeen said.
Imagine being intrigued, entertained and engaged to the point of staying on a call for three hours. Pope was able to keep him interested because of what he presented.
He used analytical charts breaking down Aberdeen’s shooting to display the percentages of where he was best and where he could be better.
They went over game highlights where Pope showed how Aberdeen would fit into the Cats offensively. He broke down defensive clips of how Aberdeen could get better using his chest more to stop opponents driving instead of reaching with his hands. He challenged Aberdeen, who averaged 1.7 rebounds last season, in explaining how he could improve as a rebounder, too.
By the time they got off, Aberdeen had heard enough. He said he was considering four other schools, but Pope’s presentation was so thorough he didn’t take another call.
“I called my dad like 20 minutes after like, ‘Yeah, Dad, this is probably the place to go,’” Aberdeen said.
Mouhamed Dioubate, a transfer from Alabama, had a similar interaction with Pope over his Zoom calls. The 6-foot-7 forward said he was already leaning UK but got the confirmation once they spoke.
“It didn’t take much; it just took what I felt like I needed to hear,” Dioubate said.
What he needed to hear was the right plan. Over the course of two calls, Dioubate said Pope ironed out what he envisioned the future would be like.
In signing Aberdeen and Dioubate, the Cats filled a need for physical and versatile defensive players. That was an area of weakness for UK last season that ultimately led to postseason losses in the SEC and NCAA tournaments.
Just amassing the most talented players available for the roster was not going to fix the problem. In examining the entire recruiting class, there’s a clear logic to why Pope signed each player and what role they will potentially play next season.
“He’s trying to win for real; he’s not playing,” Dioubate said. “… He’s trying to keep the standard to where it always has been.”
Only Pope is adhering to the standard by creating a new one with a much more targeted approach to recruiting.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.comfollow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
