Jan 4, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope walks off the court after winning the game against the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Five-star recruit's father compared the standard of Kentucky basketball to the Los Angeles Lakers

Originally posted on Kentucky Wildcats on SI
By Wyatt Huff | Last updated Sep 12, 2025 9:17 AM ET

Kentucky basketball is the mecca of college basketball. Not just that, but also one of the biggest brands in sports. That viewpoint was even bigger once John Calipari took over in 2009-10 as Kentucky's head coach. Well, that standard hasn't changed at all since Mark Pope took over last off-season, and recruits are starting to take notice of that.

It's fall visit season for many recruits across the country, and for Kentucky, that means hosting a number of top recruits over the next few months. Kentucky welcomed top target and top five prospect Caleb Holt onto campus for his official visit this past weekend, where he was able to get a much better feel of not only the staff, but the culture and storied history that comes with the Kentucky program.

Kentucky Wildcats on SI was able to speak with Holt's father soon after their visit to Kentucky. He spoke in depth about his thoughts on the Kentucky program and how they presented themselves while they were on the visit, and he had some very high praise.

"I've been to many SEC establishments and they're all really nice, but Kentucky's, they have a standard like the Cowboys or Lakers in how they go about things," Holt's father told Kentucky Wildcats on SI. "It seems like they have the resources and they don't shy away from showing it in that regard."

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

That's very high praise for the Kentucky program, but it also really speaks volume to the culture Mark Pope has instilled into his players and what he has been pitching to recruits. Holt's father was not only impressed with the facilities, but also Pope's coaching and the way he approaches his players in practice in such a unique way.

In a previous interview with Kentucky Wildcats on SI, the top five prospect's father also discussed what they're looking for in a school. "A big factor in the school is really, from the basketball perspective, is just fit and we're looking at personnel in terms of who they currently have on their roster and and also, in terms of projections of where that person or those people will be a year from now, and then, also just how they're utilized in their system or whatnot, contengent on him not making a decision prior to the season starting, so we'll be looking at that as well. But it's really more so about fit, style of play and of course, the educational component. We're really just taking our time and looking at fit and see what fits. Also, just tracking that there's consensus on how we and Caleb's camp view him as a player and how they (the school) view him as a player."

Kentucky sure looked to have made a good impression on the Holt family during their official visit last weekend.

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

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