5-star transfer Mark Mitchell commits to Kentucky, finalizing Mark Pope's third roster

The wait is finally over. After weeks of court-related issues and additional targets muddying the image, Mark Pope's preferred piece has landed in Lexington. Per Joe Tipton, five-star transfer Mark Mitchell has committed to Kentucky. The news comes one day after Mitchell was granted an injunction for his fifth year of eligibility.

Mitchell is ranked as the sixth-best transfer in all of college basketball by 247Sports, and only one of seven players with a five-star designation. Milan Momcilovic (No. 2) also carries a five stars, meaning Kentucky will have two players out of that very thin pool.

This past season at Missouri, Mitchell averaged 18.3 points per game, tallying 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in the process. he earned All-SEC Second Team honors, shot better than 50% from the field, and just under 39% from long range.

The stretch forward made a name for himself with the Tigers in the past two seasons as an on-floor leader who can do it all. Mitchell scores on multiple levels and stretches the floor well; the latter will be a specific benefit, as Mitchell is expected to click in at the four-spot for the Wildcats.

Coach Pope went out and got a guy who can truly take Kentucky to the heights of national competition. With another transfer superstar slotting in to finalize the roster, the ceiling for Pope's third Cats roster is the final game of the NCAA Tournament.

It's time to shoot for a national title, and that should be considered a realistic expectation.

Mitchell puts Kentucky in position to shoot for a championship

Kentucky fans shoot for a championship every year - that won't ever change, and it shouldn't for that matter. But Mitchell is an addition that sets the team's expectation to that level regardless of where fans want it to be.

It's another all-conference athlete that is not only built for the SEC, but has multiple years playing in it. In fact, Mitchell led Missouri to a win at Rupp Arena this past season. He had 21 points in that contest, before eventually falling to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament.

In that loss, Mitchell scored 32. Now, he'll hopefully turn his apparent ability to fill it up against the blue and white into an ability to score while wearing those threads. We'll have to see exactly where Kentucky falls in preseason projections now, but you can comfortably expect the Cats to take a sizable leap. This should be a definite top-10 roster, and one with room to grow into a single-digit mainstay in the rankings come March.

At last, Mark Pope has the perfect team to back up his talk of going all the way. Not only are excuses on the court out of the question, but so are excuses on the recruiting trail. Both are because Kentucky no longer seems to need them.

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