Former Kentucky target Rob Wright just absolved Mark Pope of his apparent whiff

At this point in the offseason, having just landed Milan Momcilovic in a crucial recruiting win, it's hard to believe that Kentucky was in diehard pursuit of BYU guard Robert Wright III. So much so that, when Wright returned to the Cougars, Mark Pope was widely flamed for "whiffing" on the star floor general.

Yet, in a clip posted on X by Cougar Sports Media (courtesy of BYU Basketball), Wright reflected on his earlier visit to Lexington, shining a new light on that period of time and, in the process, seemingly exonerating Coach Pope.

Collin Chandler is also in the video and... has a buzz cut now? I hope that dude is alright.

Anyway, Wright started, "The whole process was moving kind of fast. With BYU we were trying to get something worked out, but the timeline and everything just wasn't coming together at the right time."

"So coach and them just encouraged me to enter the portal and see my options," Wright continued, "I did end up taking a visit to Kentucky... I just wanted to come back to BYU. That was my mindset the whole time." Now more than ever, we've got a clear picture of what really went down here.

Wright's Recruitment is Clearer Than Ever

Basically, while the national media were placing predictions in favor of Kentucky landing Wright - Jeff Goodman went as far as to dub the Cats "the heavy favorite" - the soon-to-be junior guard was burning time while a deal came together in Provo.

If I'm reading that correctly, Pope and his staff were attempting to play spoiler with an outside chance. Wright, if he truly never intended to leave in the first place, should hardly be considered a whiff on Pope's part.

Especially because, shortly thereafter, Kentucky landed a commitment from Zoom Diallo, who had already visited Lexington prior to Wright and had appeared to be a primary target for the Wildcats from the get-go.

Funny how stories can pick up nonexistent steam, and at a breakneck pace. A lot of folks may owe Kentucky's head coach an apology.

Mark Pope is Owed an Apology

Pope, in picking up the aforementioned Momcilovic alongside five-star, 2027 freshman Ryan Hampton, had basically already buried his supposed past failures with the best week of recruiting he's ever had.

Wright's reflection on what could've been is only further confirmation, to me, that Pope had more control over this offseason than we thought.

As Wright and Chandler run things out west, all of the Big Blue Nation's eyes are on a Kentucky team beginning summer workouts and looking to fill out the roster with one more big name. Things are just fine in Lexington ahead of a pivotal third season for Pope.

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