The NIL era has yielded maybe more ups and downs for Mark Pope and Kentucky than any other program in college basketball. In hiring a new head-man right when the money hit the fan in the NIL era, it's been a period rife with trial-and-error for Kentucky Basketball.
Of the wins and losses, a few names stand out on either side of the fence. Otega Oweh's two-year streak of success certainly leads the former.
When it comes to the latter, however, I can think of three decisions that still haunt (or will haunt) the Wildcats
Retaining Brandon Garrison
Folks will be quick to point to Garrison's strong, late-game performance in this past NCAA Tournament against Santa Clara. You can have that; I enjoyed his blocks and heroic antics as much as the next Cats fan.
But I'm also not quick to forget the big's almost constant head-scratchers. After losing his starting spot to Malachi Moreno early in the year, Garrison never found the consistency that ended up haunting him for two years in Lexington.
He averaged 4.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in his last run in the blue and white. The (rare) best of "BG time" will be missed, all the same.
Committing to a Jaland Lowe/Jasper Johnson Backcourt
This double-header cursed Kentucky's backcourt, and really offensive playmaking on the whole, for the bulk of the 2025-26 season. Lowe's own shortcomings aren't entirely his fault, as the transfer guard injured his shoulder prior to the year and struggled to stay on the floor from that point on.
Although, in his short time playing, Lowe's 20.8% clip from range and mere 2.4 assists per contest rendered him essentially ineffective in running the floor. And in his wake, Jasper Johnson's own struggles to adapt to a seious role forced Denzel Aberdeen to play out of position all year.
Johnson, now an Oregon Duck, averaged just 4.9 points on 40% shooting. The four-star, undoubtedly expensive guard just couldn't find his footing in the SEC and, alongside Lowe's problems, played an unfortunate part in Kentucky falling behind in countless big games.
Paying these two to hold down the point guard spot in Rupp Arena was perhaps Coach Pope's most critical misfire of the entire offseason. Pair that with the aforementioned Garrison slip-up, and it isn't hard to imagine why that team fell short in the end.
Waiting on Tyran Stokes
While this final point hasn't technically haunted Kentucky on the court just yet, the impact of waiting nearly an entire offseason on Tyran Stokes has already cost Pope a number of his priority recruits.
Guys in both transfer portal pool and class of freshmen passed on Kentucky whilst Pope waited on Stokes to make a call that he was never expected to make. Now, in retrospect, it looks like the 2026-27 Kentucky team may be restricted from reaching their full potential as a result of missing the player that the roster was seemingly built around.
Still, the offseason isn't over yet, and the Cats have NIL money left over to spend. Maybe this whole Stokes thing will blow over when Coach Pope's third product hits the hardwood and proves us all wrong this fall.
Maybe.
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