Jaland Lowe shares Mark Pope's message to him during his recruitment

Mark Pope wasted no time going after his starting point guard. As soon as Jaland Lowe entered the gransfer portal, Pope flew to Minnesota to meet him at his hotel in Minnesota. Lowe spoke with media on Monday where he shared Pope's pitch to him.

At the time, the NBA Combine was at the front of Lowe's mind, but it didn't take long for the former All-ACC guard to realize how special playing at Kentucky would be.

"So, the first time I met (Coach Pope), he was meeting me at my hotel in Minnesota, like, the second day I got there. I transferred, he was at my hotel the next day. I was so surprised. ...He came up there and he was basically just telling me the plan of how I would fot into his system, how much he wants to help me get better, how the guys around it would be a joy to play with them at their high level, and then, putting on the Kentucky name is just, it's second to none. Obviously at the time, I was like, that sounds amazing, I'm still focused on the NBA right now, that's the first plan. But I'm like, man, this feels pretty comfortable if I wanna go to college, and time crept, and I'm like, man, yeah I gotta go to Kentucky man, It's the only option right now."Lowe on Pope's message to him.

Lowe didn't just get a message from Pope during his transfer recruitment, he also got some insight on what Kentucky is like from former Wildcats Amari Williams, Lamont Butler and Andrew Carr, who were participating in the NBA Combine alongside him.

"(I) first met (Coach) Pope and Coach Brooks when they first came and seen me in Minnesota. Then I went to the combine and I saw guys like Andrew Carr, I was with Amari (Williams) in a workout, I seen Lamont (Butler). Being around those guys for a quick conversation, it's like, yeah, you're gonna do amazing, you're gonna love it, every second of being there, the culture and the atmosphere, just being present at that school is gonna be amazing."Lowe on conversation with former players

It didn't take long for Pope's message to get through to low, and now, he's already seeing what Kentucky is about before even playing a single game.