Kentucky fans should not panic about missing out on five-star guard Jason Crowe Jr.

Mark Pope and the Kentucky coaching staff have been pushing hard for five-star guard Jason Crowe Jr. for months now, but after a long recruiting battle, he chose the Missouri Tigers over the Wildcats.

This recruitment was quite frustrating for Kentucky fans as Crowe Jr.'s connection to the staff made it seem like he was a lock to Lexington for a while, but Missouri just seemed to make an offer the Wildcats couldn't match.

Fans of other schools are going to use this recruitment to try and say that Pope can't recruit players who aren't from the Bluegrass State, but they won't be saying that when the 2026 class is complete.

Braydon Hawthorne is the only high school recruit Pope has landed to this point, not from Kentucky, but this trend will end this cycle. Coach Pope is in the race for a lot of elite players in the 2026 class, and he is going to land a top three class.

This situation seems similar to what happened with Caleb Wilson, yet Coach Pope found a way to put together an elite frontcourt for the 2025-26 season.

Fans of other schools will call, saying that Kentucky will be okay without Crowe Jr. "coping," but at the end of the day, in this age of college hoops, there is always an answer.

Crowe Jr. is a great player who will put up solid numbers at Missouri, but Coach Pope is going to land an elite guard in this class. Kentucky fans need to not panic about missing on Crowe Jr.