Mark Pope must go all-in to bring home Kentucky native set to enter transfer portal

With the transfer portal set to open up soon enough, we don't have to tell you that Mark Pope and Kentucky are going to have to be incredibly busy. After another early exit in March, this time in the second round, Pope needs to be aggressive with big names looking for new homes.

Predicting which players leave Kentucky as the transfer portal approaches

Go ahead and add Brett Decker to the list. On Monday, Jeff Goodman has reported that the 6-3 guard will enter the portal and he instantly becomes one of the top players who's going to be available. With the youngster being a Kentucky native, it's time for Pope to bring him home, as his 3-point shooting alone would be a major addition for this team:

Brett Decker entering the portal is something Mark Pope must take advantage of

Decker was fantastic shooting the rock this season, connecting on 47 percent of his 3-point attempts. That stat alone is quite eye-opening. He also impressed with his 16.9 points per game. He signed with Liberty as a member of the 2024 class, but the door is now open for him to make the jump to a Power 4 program.

So, why not Kentucky? Decker played his high school ball at Central Hardin High in Cecilia, which is about 90 minutes away from Lexington. With him growing up so close to campus, you've got to figure he watched some of the great Kentucky teams as a kid.

He didn't pick up an offer from the Wildcats after his high school days were over, but now Pope has the chance to sell him on the fact that he can play quite close to his friends and family if he does make the move to suit up for UK.

Again, potentially landing Decker is not going to be easy, as he's a sharpshooter and plenty of other teams across the country would like to add him to the 2026-27 roster. With Pope's seat hotter than ever, he needs to find ways to attract top talent to Kentucky this offseason. Doing so with Decker sure would get plenty of people off of his back.