Kentucky basketball has been locked in on Tyran Stokes for a long time, but they have been the second fiddle to Kansas for a long time now. Bill Self's retirement rumors gave a boost to Kentucky's chances, but that is no longer on the table as Self has announced his plans today.
“With renewed clarity and the ongoing support from our administration, I remain focused and committed to Kansas Basketball competing for a National Championship. I look forward to seeing and hearing the best fans in college basketball next season at Allen,” Self told On3's PeteNakos and Brett McMurphy.
Does that mean Stokes to Kansas is fully on?
Tyran Stokes recruitment has been a wild ride
If you haven't followed Tyran Stokes' recruitment, you have missed one wild ride. He left his former high school, Notre Dame, after allegations of fights. He then named a final 3 and expanded it again. He has had countless imminent commitment posts from insiders. And there have been rumors that his interest is always going to be Kansas unless Bill Self returns.
Well, that roadblock is out of the way, and Bill Self will be fully back in Lawrence next year. And Kansas is definitely going to be in the driver's seat, especially after Jason Hart left Kentucky to go to SMU. Hart had been Stokes' primary recruiter, but Pope is not throwing in the towel.
It is just a lot less likely than it was 24 hours ago. But Pope is still planning on him being a Wildcat.
Kentucky's head coach is still seemingly building his roster around the fact that Stokes is going to be in Lexington. He is getting guys that are individual pieces of a larger team, but none of the announced players have the star power that Kentucky lacked last season.
Building a roster around a perceived peice is dangerous
Anytime you build your roster around a guy who is leaning towards committing somewhere else, you run the risk of him doing so and then being left with a huge hole in your roster.
Kentucky simply can not afford to go into the last few days of the Transfer Portal wondering if Stokes is going to come to Lexington or not. You then have to scramble and try to find guys who are not committed elsewhere.
It is not a position that you want to be in, especially in such a crucial year for Mark Pope.
Pope, who made no fuss about being championship or bust every season, has yet to hit the Elite 8. No coach in Kentucky history has gone their first 3 seasons without getting to the Elite 8 since the round's inception in the 50's.
If he falters to a 3rd straight double-digit loss season, he may not have a chance to fix things with a fourth.