mark pope just announce a unexpected departure of a significant player

Last week was expected to be a big one for new Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope, and it didn’t disappoint. Things are unlikely to slow down in the coming days.

In addition to officially announcing four members of Pope’s first UK coaching staff — assistants Alvin Brooks III, Mark Fox, Cody Fueger and Jason Hart — the program actually added some players for the 2024-25 roster, which was left at zero following John Calipari’s departure to Arkansas earlier this month.

By Monday morning of last week, Pope had just two players for next season: former BYU commitment Collin Chandler, a top-40 national recruit who flipped that pledge to the Wildcats on April 16; and ex-Drexel big man Amari Williams, who was Pope’s first official visitor and committed to the Cats on April 21.

Last Monday night, Kentucky Mr. Basketball Travis Perry confirmed he was all-in on his UK commitment — he had signed while Calipari was still the coach — after a meeting with Pope that day. On Friday, the Cats got a commitment from former San Diego State guard Lamont Butler. On Saturday, it was announced that Oklahoma guard Otega Oweh had committed to Kentucky. And then Sunday night, Wake Forest big man Andrew Carr committed to the Cats, a move that upped the UK scholarship roster to six players.

More additions could be coming this week.

Pope and his coaching staff have kept busy, hosting a revolving door of transfers and even hopping on a last-minute flight to Las Vegas on Friday morning, a trip that resulted in a commitment from Butler, who is likely to be one of the Wildcats’ top players next season.

Fox, who gave Pope his first job in college basketball 15 years ago, spoke to the Herald-Leader about the new UK coach last week, before he officially landed a spot on Pope’s staff.

The former Georgia head coach said before joining the staff that he expected big things on the recruiting trail from Pope, who will be pursuing higher-profile players in an intensely competitive environment, compared to the circumstances he recruited under as BYU’s coach for the past five seasons.

“He’s a relentless worker,” Fox said. “And his energy level is one of the things that separates him. We all have the same amount of time given to us each day, but not all of us use the same amount of energy. And he is — and he’s always been — someone that gets people to connect to him. And so I don’t think that will change one bit, with this new role.”

Still less than three weeks into the gig, Pope has done an impressive job of filling Kentucky’s roster so far. There’s plenty of work left to be done, however, and the visitors will continue to arrive in Lexington in the coming days. Here’s what to watch for next.

WHO’S NEXT FOR KENTUCKY?

Jaxson Robinson: The leading scorer for Pope at BYU last season, Robinson — a 6-7 guard with one year of college eligibility remaining — confirmed over the weekend that he will enter the transfer portal. Kentucky is the major favorite to land his commitment. Robinson is also entered in the NBA draft, and while ESPN projects him as a possible second-round pick, the expectation is that he will follow Pope to Kentucky, where he’ll likely be one of the Cats’ top players next season. He made 81 3-pointers at a 35.4% clip at BYU last season.

There’s no set timetable for Robinson to reveal his future plans, so he might not technically be “next” for Kentucky, because someone else on the recruiting radar could announce a commitment to the Cats first.

Great Osobor: The Utah State big man arrived in Lexington for his official visit on Sunday, and he would be a perfect complement to Williams and Carr in the Wildcats’ frontcourt. Osobor — a 6-8, 250-pound player with one season of eligibility left — averaged 17.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 blocks for the Aggies this past season. He has the type of passing ability that Pope is looking for in a post player, and — while Osobor has some other official visits on his schedule — Kentucky might very well be the favorite going into this week.