Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope calls out to his team Friday, March 28, 2025, during the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Could playing time and minute distribution hurt Mark Pope on the recruiting trail?

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Andrew Stefaniak | Last updated Sep 29, 2025 11:25 AM ET

It is the part of the year where recruits start to pick where they will play their college hoops, and the Kentucky Wildcats have yet to land a 2026 recruit. Fans aren't concerned about this and for good reason, knowing Mark Pope is in a good spot for some elite players in the 2026 class.

What sparked this conversation was the recent commitment of Tay Kinney to Kansas. This was painful for Big Blue Nation, knowing Kinney is a Newport, Kentucky native and Pope has done excellently so far in his time at Kentucky, landing players from the Bluegrass State, so this one stung.

On social media this weekend, fans have been discussing why Coach Pope hasn't landed a recruit in the 2026 class, and an interesting point was brought up.

Obviously, college basketball is changing, and some coaches like to rely on veteran players from the portal rather than elite five-star freshmen. This isn't the case for Coach Pope, knowing he wants a roster featuring player retention, veteran transfers, and elite freshmen from the high school ranks.

Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While this type of roster is successful in today's day and age of college hoops, it might not be the most exciting for some of the elite top five-star prospects.

Coach Pope is a coach who really likes to use his bench players and not play really anyone more than 25 minutes per game. Otega Oweh led the Wildcats in minutes last season, and he only played 28.3. Some freshmen who have elite lottery pick NBA upside might not want to play in a system where they won't play over 30 minutes because it will be hard to put up massive numbers, especially in an offense that likes to move the ball around like at Kentucky.

Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Now, while we're having this conversation, Coach Pope does still have himself in a spot where he can land some elite talent in this 2026 class. The Wildcats look like one of the three schools that have a great shot to land Tyran Stokes, the number one player in the class.

On top of Stokes, Kentucky is in the race for multiple other top ten recruits in this 2026 class.

The thought of minutes per game being a reason some elite high school recruits might want to go elsewhere is an interesting one for Kentucky fans to think about, but Big Blue Nation should have a lot of confidence that Pope is going to recruit.

This article first appeared on Kentucky Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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