Jeff Goodman pins Kentucky as an offseason loser ahead of Mark Pope's third year

Mark Pope's first season at Kentucky, even given an early-ish NCAA Tournament exit, felt like a dream to Kentucky fans that had been long removed from an SEC Tournament win, let alone the Sweet 16. Add in the injuries and fast roster construction, and the BBN seemed confident in their new coach going forward.

Now, one year and an even earlier March Madness exit later, and Cats fans are in hysterics. It doesn't help that Coach Pope and his staff are having a hard time getting their guys on the recruiting trail, too; so much so that national names are taking unfortunate notice.

Per The Field of 68, Rob Dauster noted that Kentucky "got beat for a number of players," both in the transfer portal and the freshman recruiting class. "It just feels like they've struck out over and over again," Jeff Goodman added.

In Goodman's official winners and losers of the offseason, Kentucky sits atop the latter list in a painfully bright light for all to see.

Kentucky Dubbed an Offseason Loser

To an extent, these guys are right. Pope had essentially publicly staked his roster's structure on Stokes' commitment; when that fell through, the Wildcats were bound to hit a serious wall. And even if the Cats made up ground in the backcourt with Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins - two very strong guards - losing out on Rob Wright was undoubtedly bad for optics.

Add Donnie Freeman to that list of misses and you've got a serious list of high-profile recruits that heard Kentucky's pitch, saw the money on the table, and denied it.

Whatever has led to that pattern and however Pope has tried to build out his team, something has soured in the process. Yet, BBN shouldn't be so quick to give up on the guys that have pledged the blue and white, even if the national media have been so far.

A High-Ceiling Collection

In spite of his initial misses, Coach Pope has strung together a group of players with high-ceilings for Kentucky this coming season. Someone like Justin McBride, who has all the physical tools to dominate in the SEC, may have been waiting for this exact kind of opportunity.

Or the aforementioned Willkins, who showed flashes of excellence at Furman and should benefit from the increased talent and resources in Lexington.

All that is to say that the tools remain on the roster as it currently stands for Kentucky to win a lot of games. Given one or two more impactful additions and, all the sudden, the Wildcats may not be considered offseason losers after all.

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