‘It was good vibes.’ What is a Kentucky basketball recruiting visit like under Mark Pope?
Class of 2025 college basketball recruit and Great Crossing High School star Malachi Moreno talks about his relationship with UK basketball coach Mark Pope after Moreno committed to Kentucky on Friday, August 16, 2024, during a commitment ceremony at Great Crossing High School in Georgetown, Kentucky. BY CAMERON DRUMMOND| CDRUMMOND@HERALD-LEADER.COM
Mark Pope’s first months as the Kentucky men’s basketball coach have already been filled with major moments for the former UK player.
From his iconic arrival at his first press conference in Rupp Arena, to his first Big Blue Madness this month, Pope has reinvigorated the UK fan base with his energy and enthusiasm. These characteristics have also been cited by top high school recruits as a reason why they are interested in, or have already committed to, Pope’s program. Recruits have gotten a firsthand look at Pope’s dialed-up demeanor on recruiting visits to Lexington during the summer and fall.
UK basketball fans know the importance of a prospect taking an official visit to UK, a trip that often coincides with major athletic events like a UK football home game or Big Blue Madness. But what actually goes on during these recruiting visits to Kentucky, and how much of a factor are they when a prospect is making their college decision? The Herald-Leader spoke to several Kentucky basketball recruits in the 2025 and 2026 classes who have visited UK in recent months since Pope became the head coach. Here’s what they said goes down during a Kentucky basketball recruiting visit.
UK BASKETBALL COMMIT MALACHI MORENO PRAISES MARK POPE’S COMMUNICATION Local high school star Malachi Moreno became Kentucky basketball’s first class of 2025 commitment in August. The Great Crossing High School star is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star prospect and as the No. 24 player in the 2025 class. Before Moreno committed to the Wildcats during a ceremony inside Great Crossing’s home gym in Georgetown, he spent the summer getting acquainted with Pope through several trips to Lexington.
Earlier this month while at a USA Basketball Junior National Team minicamp in Colorado, Moreno said Pope’s communication with him during the summer centered around faith, family and the impact that going to Kentucky had on Pope’s life. “We honestly didn’t even talk about basketball,” Moreno told the Herald-Leader. “We would kind of just sit, talk about life, he would tell me stories about his time at Kentucky. Then, he brought me into Rupp Arena and showed me his banner (for the 1996 national championship). I mean, how could you not want to play for a coach who won a banner at that school?” Pope’s communication also extended to Moreno’s mother, Sarah, and his older brother, Michael, who recently finished a distinguished college basketball career at Eastern Kentucky.
“(Pope) would call my mom randomly during the day and just have like a two-hour long conversation about anything,” Moreno said. “He always talked to my brother about my brother’s career at Eastern Kentucky. So, it’s just all the love he showed my family, it meant a lot to us and that really stuck out to me.”
CHRIS CENAC, TAYLEN KINNEY DISCUSS RECRUITING VISITS TO KENTUCKY Another in-state product who used the summer to become more familiar with Pope and the UK program is Taylen Kinney, a four-star point guard in the 2026 recruiting class. Previously a standout player at Newport High School in Northern Kentucky, Kinney will spend his junior season with the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite (OTE) program.
Kinney will be teammates at OTE with another 2025 Kentucky basketball commit, guard Jasper Johnson. Before moving to Atlanta ahead of the new OTE season, Kinney collected a Kentucky basketball scholarship offer in August while on an unofficial visit to UK. What did that unofficial trip to meet with Pope entail?
“It was just me and the whole coaching staff, all day. It was good vibes,” Kinney said. “We watched film. They had film of all my plays: Offense, defense, rebounding, assists, all that.” “It was good. They were showing my strengths and weaknesses,” Kinney said of the film session. “They were just keeping it real with me.” Like other recruits the Herald-Leader has spoken with this offseason, Kinney said he’s eager to see what Pope’s first Kentucky team looks like during the 2024-25 season.
Another notable visitor for Kentucky this offseason was five-star, class of 2025 center Chris Cenac Jr., who has UK among his top seven schools. Cenac took an official visit to Kentucky last month, along with another top 2025 recruit, five-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. After a stock-rising summer that included winning a gold medal with the United States in front of UK coaches at the FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Turkey, plenty of attention was centered on Cenac’s trip to Lexington.
“It was a great visit,” Cenac said of his visit to UK. “Coach Pope and his coaching staff, they’re all great guys. … Had a great practice when I was in. That’s a school that I put in my top seven and I’m looking forward to seeing what they have to offer.” Cenac also filled in the details on what exactly happens when a basketball recruit visits a school. “You go and they’ll have a presentation for you on what they’ll use you for when you come in,” Cenac explained. “Then you can go in and see a practice. And then just go with the players, see what the players’ energy is like. The coaching staff’s. It’s basically like you’re on campus, like you go to the school.”
Specifically for Cenac, UK’s pitch to him centered around the NBA playing style that Pope plans to implement, as well as the Wildcats’ player development program. Pope has done plenty early in his UK tenure to endear himself to Kentucky fans, but perhaps the most unexpected positive has been his recruiting success. Kentucky, along with Duke, are the only two schools with multiple commitments from five-star prospects in the 2025 recruiting class, using the 247Sports Composite rankings. The Wildcats are also heavy favorites to land a commitment soon from four-star point guard Acaden Lewis, who was UK’s top visitor for Big Blue Madness this month.
Should Lewis commit to Kentucky, then the Cats will be the only program in the nation with pledges from at least three players ranked in the top 40 of the 2025 recruiting class. Pope should also get plenty of future reps in when it comes to hosting prospects on recruiting visits at UK. The Wildcats already have 10 scholarship offers out to players in the 2026 recruiting class, and two scholarship offers out to high school sophomores in the 2027 class.
Class of 2025 recruit Chris Cenac poses for a photo with Mark Pope while Cenac was on a recruiting visit to UK in September. Chris Cenac on X/Twitter
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