Kentucky basketball has a critical five-star 2026 recruit on campus for a visit

Mark Pope and his coaching staff have started to fix their focus on the 2026 recruiting class, and the Wildcats are after some of the top players in the class.

One of the players that the Wildcats are after is Newport, Kentucky native Tay Kinney, who currently is playing his hoops for Overtime Elite in Atlanta. Starting today, Kinney will be in Lexington for an official visit to Kentucky, and this will give Coach Pope an opportunity to get the Wildcats in a good spot to land one of the best players in the class.

According to 247Sports, Kinney is ranked as the 14th best player in the 2026 class composite rankings. The 6'1 guard is in talks with many different schools, but many believe the race to land this elite point guard could come down to Kentucky and Louisville.

Kinney was recently on a visit to Louisville, and Pat Kelsey was able to sell his recruiting pitch, but now Coach Pope is going to be able to move his piece in this chess battle for an elite player.

Early into his tenure as the head coach of the Wildcats, Pope has done an excellent job making sure in-state talent is picking the Wildcats over the Cardinals, but this race looks to be neck and neck at the moment.

Hopefully, this visit to Kentucky will help the staff build a lead over Louisville, but this race could come down to the wire. This race will be one that everyone in the Bluegrass State is paying attention to over the coming months.