BREAKING NEWS: KENTUCKY WILDCATS HAVE SUSPENDED ANOTHER THREE KEY PLAYER FROM THEIR TEAM TODAY……….
Mark Pope has been a busy man since becoming the Kentucky Wildcats’ head coach, and he’s shown no sign of slowing down.
Over the last week, Pope has flown across the country to meet with various prospects while also returning to host Amari Williams for a visit this weekend, which led to a commitment from the Drexel center. Pope also scored a commitment from former BYU Cougars signee Collin Chandler.
Now, we have another reported visitor, and it’s one of Pope’s former players.
Per KSR’s Matt Jones, BYU guard Richie Saunders is set to visit Kentucky on Sunday and Monday. Saunders will have two years of eligibility remaining at his next school.
A class of 2020 recruit, Saunders served a two-year Mormon mission before joining the Cougars in 2022. In his debut season, the 6-foot-5 native of Utah averaged 5.5 points on 45.3% shooting (33.3% from deep), 2.4 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 15.9 minutes per game.
This past season, Saunders went for 9.6 points on 52.3% shooting (36.4% from deep), 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 20.7 minutes per game. His highlight of the season was 20 points on 7/12 shooting (3/6 from deep) in a 68-63 defeat at Iowa State. He came off the bench in both seasons.
Kentucky has yet to land a BYU transfer after Aly Khalifa went to Louisville, while Dallin Hall is not considering the Wildcats. You’d think Pope will manage to bring at least one of his former players to Lexington, so perhaps that will be Saunders.
After being hired as head coach of Kentucky, Mark Pope has landed one of the top players in the transfer portal.
Per Joe Tipton of On3.com, Drexel big man Amari Williams’ agents said their client has committed to Pope and the Wildcats on Sunday.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski noted that Williams will continue to explore the NBA pre-draft process before the May 29 deadline to decide whether he remain in the draft or withdraw and return to school.
Williams is an impressive addition, especially considering he’s Pope’s first recruit. The 6’10” senior became the first player in CAA history to three-peat as Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with 1.8 blocks per game to go with averages of 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists. He helped lead Drexel to a top-30 national ranking in scoring defense and a 20-12 record, the program’s first 20-win season since 2012.
