Feb 19, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope watches the action during the first half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Mark Pope went on a peculiar recruiting visit to see 2026 five-star PG Tay Kinney

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Andrew Stefaniak | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Mark Pope and his coaching staff are working hard to land recruits in the 2026 class, and one of the top recruits Kentucky is pushing after is five-star point guard Tay Kinney.

Kinney is a Kentucky native from Newport, but he has been playing for Overtime Elite. Last season, Kinney was teammates with Jasper Johnson on the RWE team in Overtime Elite.

Early into the recruitment of Kinney, it seemed that Kentucky was in a great spot, but over the last few months, it seems to be going in another direction. Louisville, Miami, and Indiana are the schools that are mainly in the race with Kentucky for Kinney, but Texas, Kansas, Oregon, and Arkansas are also still pushing.

Brooks Holton / USA TODAY NETWORK

Last night, the recruiting period opened at midnight, and according to On3's Joe Tipton two coaches were in to see Kinney right as it opened. Those two coaches were Pope and Louisville's Pat Kelsey.

Most Kentucky fans seem confident where the Wildcats stand with Deron Rippey Jr., who is another five-star point guard in the 2026 class. The staff will also be in for an in-home visit with Rippey Jr. today, so it seems like Pope wants one of these two point guards to be the PG of the future for Kentucky.

While it does seem more likely that Rippey Jr. is the Wildcats' point guard in this class, it is telling that Coach Pope went at midnight to see Kinney right when the period opened. This shows that Coach Pope really does want to land Kinney. He could also be doing this because he knows Kentucky is behind in this race, and doing things like a midnight visit shows how much interest his staff has.

Recruiting between Kinney and Rippey Jr. is a good problem to have, as both of these players are exceptional point guards, and you can't go wrong with either of them.

Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

It does seem like decisions from both of these point guards could be coming soon, and hopefully, Coach Pope is able to land one of these two elite guards.

If Kinney is the guard that Kentucky has at the top of their list in this class, Coach Pope needs to get his current freshman guard, Johnson, to get in Kinney's ear and help recruit the elite guard.

More than likely, the Wildcats will be able to land one of these guards, but as the beginning of September is here, Rippey Jr. seems like the most likely candidate to be in Kentucky's 2026 class.

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

More must-reads: