Despite already stringing together one of the nation’s most impressive rosters for the 2025-26 college basketball season in Kentucky’s current 12-man roster, Mark Pope hasn’t hopped off the recruiting trail just yet.

During his appearance on CBS’ Jon Rothstein’s podcast, Pope said that he wants to “round out” the current roster with an initial addition, saying, “I have 12 guys right now… we’re actually going to try and round out this roster.”

“I’m actually scouring the planet right now,” he said. “… for guys that would fit in as maybe a redshirt guy that would kill it in practice, or maybe a last year of your career guy that wants to come here and put on this one-of-one jersey and be a part of this.”

“We need to add a couple more pieces but right now we have our roster that’s going to own the minutes on this floor.”

Finding Fits

So while it seems that the current, core 12 players will share the majority of Kentucky’s minutes next season, Coach Pope is still keen on finding productive ways to fill out the rest of the available roster spots.

This is a smart move for many reasons, though first and foremost may be Kentucky’s recent history with injuries, specifically this past season. Pope and staff had to dig deep into their reserves during his first year at the helm, resulting in midseason rotational hiccups and many “what-if” endings that may have gone differently had Kentucky been healthy, or, perhaps, had more options on the bench.

And while the entire segment is interesting enough, Pope specifically noting a “couple more pieces” opens the possibility of more than one ‘Cat making their way to Rupp before the upcoming season tips off. Just days ago, that idea seemed completely out of the question.

Where it’ll go from here is uncertain, but the Big Blue Nation can rest assured that Coach Pope and company are hard at work on the recruiting trail, proved by their sharp roster construction up to this point. If the team has a perceived hole, it will be filled in one way or another.

Started in 2014, the CBS Sports Classic is a non-conference, neutral-site multiteam event that has always consisted of Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio State, and UCLA. That is until now.

Earlier this week, there was a report that UCLA was looking to find a way out of the CBS Sports Classic. On Thursday, it was reported that they will be replaced with the St. John’s Red Storm, according to Dave Berov of the Eye on the Storm Podcast.

If the schedule holds true through the change, the Wildcats will play Pitino and the Red Storm, as they were scheduled to play UCLA. This will be a much-anticipated matchup between Pope and his former Coach, and will be the first time Pitino will coach against Kentucky since leaving Louisville in 2016, which he won.

The matchup is anticipated to take place in Atlanta, a place Big Blue Nation has consistently branded ‘Catlanta.’

Over the weekend, four of Kentucky’s transfer portal commitments met in Lexington, with Coach Mark Pope, for their officials visits to campus and the surrounding area.

After a series of pictures from the players were posted from the team’s practice facility, the Joe Craft Center, the squad took to Kentucky Proud Park to watch the Bat ‘Cats take on the visiting South Carolina Gamecocks. The new team and Coach Pope made sure to pose for pictures with fans, which made their way onto social media later that afternoon to a chorus of praise from the Big Blue Nation.

But the fans weren’t the only ones with excitement to share about this visit.

“MAN I LOVE KENTUCKY!”

All four of Denzel Aberdeen, Kam Williams, Mouhamed Dioubate and Jaland Lowe took to X, expressing their gratitude for the opportunity to play in Kentucky blue, as well the fans and culture that come with that.

“The culture and love that Kentucky has for their players is very special and something that I will never take for granted,” said Williams. “I was blessed to have my official visit today and honestly can’t wait to suit up and play for all the fans. Can’t wait to get to work!”

Aberdeen shared a similar sentiment, stating, “MAN I LOVE KENTUCKY! Had a great official visit today in Lexington, cannot wait to represent the University and its culture. #BBN” Dioubate said that the “love and respect” on the visit was “surreal.”

Lowe called the trip to campus a “dream come true,” adding, ” All eyes on number 9.”

The four posts share nearly 350,000 views, 9,000+ likes, and more than 450 replies on the platform, full of fans echoing the players’ excitement and sharing encouragement for this upcoming season.

Already, Mark Pope’s newest team is making a positive impression on the fanbase, in more ways than one. It may mean more in the SEC, but in Lexington, it means something different entirely. The 2025-26′ team is built to prove that.