Mark Pope stopping by Wheeler Pharmacy was SUPPOSED to happen. It’s a part of his destiny.
… A part of Kentucky Basketball history.
Every single coach (2) that didn’t associate themselves there never won a title in Lexington. All the others, did.
Mark Pope is paying his dues.
Dusty May leaving Michigan absolutely changes the Kusturica recruitment..... not only will Michigan have a harder time landing him, obviously....but all their players now will have 30 days to enter the portal. And whatever school loses their coach to take the Michigan job will also have 30 days to enter the portal.
If I'm UK, I"m waiting to see if JP Estrella enters the portal before I pay Kusturica 10-12 million for 2 years
UPDATE: An update on Serbian SF Nikola Kusturica.
Kentucky, Michigan, and UCLA are the 3 programs positioned the best coming down the stretch, I’ve been told.
After speaking with a few Gonzaga Sources, it’s been reiterated to me multiple times that Gonzaga is not believed to be involved anymore, and have moved on to other potential targets.
“I think it’s Kentucky, or Michigan if this is a bidding war. They’ve seemed to have pivoted to secondary guards. I think while Gonzaga staff is high on him, they won’t pay more than $3m for a guy who they think should be playing 15mpg”
Also added: “What I’ve heard is his camp is actually asking for a minute restriction in year 1”
Michigan has a rotational need for him, and the pitch is quite clear, their offer has also raised in the last few days, I’ve been told, but is still significantly less than what Kentucky is offering Nikola.
From a Michigan Source: “Dusty has been pursuing Nikola really hard. Given LJ, Lincoln will be missing the entire season, potentially starting a 6’4 SG at SF, and the bench being filled with lower rated True Freshman, or unproven redshirt guys, they’ve really picked up the pressure on trying to land this kid. They view him as at the least an immediate bench contributor year 1, if not the starting Wing. I can’t say for sure on the numbers obviously, but they’ve supposedly raised it, it’s still not close to what Kentucky Is offering, we’ve heard $3.5m/$4.5m is the raised UM offer. (UK is supposedly offering $5.5m/$6m) The role/pitch, sacrificing a little $ to compete for National Championships, Yaxel Role has been their selling points.”
From a UCLA Source: “Coaches did zoom with him and his reps. I think UCLA would love to get him, but he’d almost certainly be a rotational piece, don’t think he starts over TP or Eric, and I’m not sure they can offer even close to what Kentucky, and others likely are. UCLA only has 1 spot left, they pretty much tapped the NIL. I think the main thing really going for them is they’re supposedly being flexible with that 2nd year and locking him in now, v what every other school is definitely trying to do.”
That 2nd year is also a really big point of emphasis right now for all schools involved. Nearly every program is making sure they have both years completely locked in, and won’t have to worry about potential transfer drama, contract disputes, etc next off season.
A return to FC Barcelona has been on the table, but given the current college offers, has become extremely unlikely, ive been told. Spire Academy/Prep School in America is basically not an option anymore, everyone said that.
Kentucky can still get this done, and the consensus from everyone I’ve spoken with stays the same, he will be a Kentucky Wildcat. but at the same time, Michigan has really positioned themselves well here with a strong late push and you cannot count them out just yet, and UCLA could potentially make it interesting with contractual language being more favorable.
Nikola will be playing in the FIBA U17 World Cup from June 27th-July 5th, a decision is expected to come by then, I’ve been told by 2 international sources. especially with the schools needing to begin the enrollment process ASAP.
#BBN #KentuckyBasketball
Kentucky fans got their first look at one of the newest Wildcats on Friday!
The Kentucky men's basketball team released photos of Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic wearing a Kentucky jersey for the first time since committing to Mark Pope and the Wildcats.
The 6-foot-8 forward is expected to play a major role for Kentucky this season after emerging as one of the top transfer additions in college basketball. 😼🔥 #BBN