Mark Pope continues to push for a 15th roster spot as summer practice ends

With eight weeks of summer workouts in the books and the team set to break for a few weeks before the start of the fall semester, the Kentucky coaching staff will not have time to relax as the players do. Instead, Mark Pope and his assistants are on the hunt for one final roster addition to bring his team total to 15. Who could that player be? Well, it’s complicated, considering no one knows who is currently eligible or will be allowed to enter the transfer portal or if the NCAA will ultimately say fifth-year possibilities from the high school class of 2022 are officially out. There is seemingly a new injunction, lawsuit or appeal every day, making it impossible for coaches to know what pond of talent they can actually fish from without reeling in a violation. Do you take a player you believe to be eligible as of early August who may not be the needle-mover you need, or pass on the bird in the hand for the two in the bush of guys needing additional rulings to fall in their favor before legally entering the portal and becoming available? Pope says he’s excited about the opportunity to upgrade his roster, but frustrated it’s all as clear as mud regarding the who with some level of risk involved regardless. “It’s still so dynamic,” Pope told the UK Sports Network on Thursday. “We’re getting new rulings every single day, and there are appeal cases on the boards. But it’s interesting to be this far into the summer and still uncertain about what the rules even are. It certainly opens up some opportunities for us that we’ve kind of been anticipating and sitting on and waiting for. And so we’ll see how things play out.” The big three at this stage are Missouri’s Mark Mitchell, Michigan State’s Jaxon Kohler and Auburn’s Keyshawn Hall, who have all announced their intention to transfer and explore their fifth-year options in 2026-27. Only Hall, however, is technically in the portal at this stage and legally recruitable. Does Pope make a move on the latter or wait on the former? Does he still explore reclass or international options? He remains in wait-and-see mode before pulling the trigger on anything. In the meantime, he knows any addition would be icing on the cake — because he loves the 14 guys already competing in Lexington as is. “I love this group. We’re ready to go build this team into a competitive team,” Pope continued. “And if we have the opportunity to add another piece that helps us, we will.”