Stokes is #1 in 2026
Branham on Jasper
- Thread starter Jamal Mercer
- Start date
Further discussion about freshman signings. I think 4 would be about right (about 1/3 of the roster), Mix of contribute now from 2, 1 stud, and 1 multi year guy.
Would love to close on Jasper, land Yessoufo, a 6-5,210 lbs. wrecking ball Absolute ready now wing, very good 2 way player we always seem to miss on. Nate Ament, 6-9, 185lbs. PF. Needs to add weight, but he is more of a modern PF, does several things really well and is getting better every day, late bloomer, will be very good.
That would be for 2025 :
PG / SG - Jasper #22 ESPN (Now listed as a SG on ESPN, they was the ony one listing him as a PG before)
SF - Yessoufo #11 ESPN
PF - Ament (Virginia 33% / UK 29% on ESPN) #3 ranked per ESPN
C- Moreno #21 ESPN
Maybe sign a true PG in Mikel Brown, #15 ESPN. Give me this class and close up shop now. #3, #11, #15, #21, #22. (Mullins #35) if we do not get the 5 I mentioned.
Both Moreno and Ament will take a little time to adapt to the college game, but both are very capable, but both MUST add weight / get stronger.
Sign those 5 (all are realistic), let Moreno mature with Garrison hopefully coming back. I really would love to get Yessoufo, I truly believe he is going to be that stud wing. He is just so physical already on both ends and his shot has improved considerably.
That would be 5 top 25 guys, a top 5 in Ament #3(though I think he is ranked a bit too high, solid PG in Brown and 2 local kids top 25 ranked. Couldn't really ask for a much better 1st class for Pope. The Dybantsa, Boozer, and Petersons trio to me is not very likely but you have to at least recruit them.
JMO, I could be wrong.
EDIT : Sorry those was ON3 rankings. Disregard the ESPN rankings.
Would love to close on Jasper, land Yessoufo, a 6-5,210 lbs. wrecking ball Absolute ready now wing, very good 2 way player we always seem to miss on. Nate Ament, 6-9, 185lbs. PF. Needs to add weight, but he is more of a modern PF, does several things really well and is getting better every day, late bloomer, will be very good.
That would be for 2025 :
PG / SG - Jasper #22 ESPN (Now listed as a SG on ESPN, they was the ony one listing him as a PG before)
SF - Yessoufo #11 ESPN
PF - Ament (Virginia 33% / UK 29% on ESPN) #3 ranked per ESPN
C- Moreno #21 ESPN
Maybe sign a true PG in Mikel Brown, #15 ESPN. Give me this class and close up shop now. #3, #11, #15, #21, #22. (Mullins #35) if we do not get the 5 I mentioned.
Both Moreno and Ament will take a little time to adapt to the college game, but both are very capable, but both MUST add weight / get stronger.
Sign those 5 (all are realistic), let Moreno mature with Garrison hopefully coming back. I really would love to get Yessoufo, I truly believe he is going to be that stud wing. He is just so physical already on both ends and his shot has improved considerably.
That would be 5 top 25 guys, a top 5 in Ament #3(though I think he is ranked a bit too high, solid PG in Brown and 2 local kids top 25 ranked. Couldn't really ask for a much better 1st class for Pope. The Dybantsa, Boozer, and Petersons trio to me is not very likely but you have to at least recruit them.
JMO, I could be wrong.
EDIT : Sorry those was ON3 rankings. Disregard the ESPN rankings.
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If those guys are willing to come in and compete against veterans, I am all for it.
I just don’t want 4 or 5 Freshmen starting and expected to carry the load.
If you can get Oweh, Garrison, Chandler, Perry, and Noah to return and add some portal guys, and those four want to come, then I am all for it.
But would Yessoufou and Johnson both want to come here with the possibility of having to battle a Senior Oweh at the 2 or 3 or will they go somewhere where the coach will promise them a starting spot and 30 minutes a game (along with a big bag of cash)?
In this day and age, it’s usually a Jerry MaGuire moment: show me the money!!!! (and guaranteed minutes),
We get Johnson, pencil him in at the 2. Oweh at the 3. Garrison at the 5.
We need a portal PG. I don’t want an elite Freshmen PG who already has one foot out the door running the show. They make mistakes and turn the ball over a lot. I don’t see a Wall or Fox or even a Teague looking to come here, so give me another Butler type guy there.
Then give me Ament or even Yessoufou (if he is willing to play a small ball 4, he’s capable of playing there) at the 4.
I just don’t see us getting a bunch of 5-star guys unless Pope is willing to make certain playing time promises that he won’t make.
Yeah he’s a better shooter than a lot of people realize. It’s his shot selection that’s the weakness. If the staff can reel that in quickly i’ll have a lot more confidence in throwing him out there right away.
Do everything, gunslinging guards often have unimpressive 3 point shooting at the youth level. Once they enter a structure with better players and thus more defined roles, their efficiency improves.
He shot great in the FIBA event when he was surrounded by talent and playing in a more structured system.
He shot 37% for Link Academy and 42% in FIBA from 3. Where does the idea that he can't shoot come from? The team also needs to be able to play defense, UK was one of the very best three-point shooting teams in the country this season with no defense and got bounced in the first round. This is a great pickup.
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I hope Pope making in state players a priority doesn’t come back to bite us. With Moreno and Jasper that’s four young homegrown boys. That’s a lot.
Our days of pinning our hopes solely on getting elite HS players are over. If we don’t get Cenac, we will get a player in the portal.
The days of Cal putting all our eggs in one basket are gone.
Amen to that! Who was the last really great and productive freshman 4 we had under Cal anyway?
Hopes shouldn’t be pinned on any freshman. Thats been our problem for years.
Give me a couple highly touted guys per class and that would be fine.
Exactly but we still need freshman every year so we may as well get th best ones we can.
I like the idea of getting 1-2 elite guys and then the rest be guys that are likely to stick around for a few years and won’t mind sitting the bench behind upperclassmen. The way it use to be B.C. (Before Cal).
Look at UConn the last few years, they’ve had one 5-star on their two title teams. That’s the formula. Get the talented kids from time to time, but build your team with multi year guys. The traditional way of team building.
Why? They already have Moreno and Garrison. All they need is a couple good backup transfers.
Maybe we have no idea who will return or not. Plus we still wanted ament and now he’s not coming.
Probably unpopular opinion but if the nil numbers are anything close to whats floating around online, we massively overpaid.
From an optics standpoint, i get we couldn't miss on him but still. That money will hurt come portal time and sets the market for other guys we're recruiting.
From an optics standpoint, i get we couldn't miss on him but still. That money will hurt come portal time and sets the market for other guys we're recruiting.
I read an article that he's still weighing his college decision and announcement date. Hopefully we hear something soon.
I was going to ask, if we know the exact time/date of the announcement? It sounds like that is a no.
Gotta make sure that huge cake has the right shade of blue 💙
The announcement is at his old Woodford county high school. 😎
Just a guess nothing more I think it's a good sign he's announcing at Woodford County High School.
I don't think you RETURN to your Kentucky high school deep in the heart of Kentucky Wildcat territory, surrounded by friends and family who are Kentucky Wildcat fans to announce you are going to...Alabama. You'd do that at a more neutral site.
Announcing in Woodford Co makes me feel good
Yep. I just now saw that. That’s definitely good. Maybe the 5th is the soonest it worked for everyone to make a day of it in woodford co
It's Kentucky.
Johnson and Moreno for president, 2024.
Johnson and Moreno for president, 2024.
I’d be shocked if not UK now. You don’t come home to say, “I’m leaving “.
Truckers do it all the time
