It is June 12th, and after more than two months since the start of the college basketball offseason, the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball program has scored its first addition to the 2023-24 roster.
Announced on Monday on the I AM ATHLETE podcast, the Wildcats received a commitment from four-star forward Jordan Burks.
Burks, a 6-foot-9 forward in the 2023 recruiting class, was originally committed to Ole Miss, but he reopened his recruitment in late March following the firing of Kermit Davis. Following the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline last Wednesday, Kentucky moved in quickly, getting Burks on Campus earlier this week and, ultimately, his commitment.
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Rankings-wise, here’s how Burks finished in the 2023 class:
A four-star prospect ranked 101st overall, 23rd among small forwards, and 10th from the state of Florida at On3.
A three-star prospect ranked 36th among small forwards and 25th in the state of Florida at 247 Sports.
A four-star prospect ranked 19th among small forwards and third in the state of Florida at ESPN.
Burks’ ranking may not be very impressive on paper, but many believe he is much better than his ranking suggests.
Despite his ranking, Burks has created a reputation as one of the best offensive talents in the class. As proof, he just led Overtime Elite in scoring this past season, averaging 27.1 points per game on 46.7% shooting.
In doing so, he averaged more than fellow Kentucky freshman, Rob Dillingham, and projected 2023 top-10 picks, Amen and Ausar Thompson. To add, Burks even ranked top 10 in rebounding, averaging 7.5 per game.
With that said, Burks does have some weaknesses. Most notably, he shot less than 30% from three this past season (26.7% 3P). Also, can make some poor reads/decisions, averaging 2.5 per contest.
Jordan Burks has a basketball player’s frame; long arms, broad shoulders, he has a projectable frame that will take well to a college strength program. Burka has a smooth jump shot. He needs to clean up the mechanics and his balance points, but the release is consistent and he is confident off the bounce and the catch.
Burks is a fluid athlete with some pop. He needs to tighten the handle and learn his reads. Finding his spots on the floor and working toward those would help grow his game. There is so much natural talent here with tools and upside.
The addition of Burks is certainly a positive, if for anything, just to be a body in practice and help the team. However, with his frame and natural talent, Burks could be a player who develops into a contributor for the Wildcats.
Now, check out some highlights of the newest Wildcat in action! Even going up against now teammate, Rob Dillingham.
Taylen Kinney, one of the top guards in the 2026 class and the No. 1 point guard in Kentucky, will take an official visit with the Wildcats beginning on June 24.
The Newport, Kentucky native has been inserted in a bit of a bidding war with Louisville and other premier schools after his official visit with the Cardinals, but of course the true recruiting powerhouse had to cast a line in hope of a bite.
KSR’s Jack Pilgrim caught a video of Kinney working with Mark Pope one-on-one on the morning of June 17 at the USA U19 Training Camp in Colorado Springs.
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Mark Pope got some one-on-one time with Tay Kinney during his time in Colorado Springs
Thought to be a head-to-head battle between Kentucky and Louisville for the top-20 recruit’s commitment
A picture of Kinney, along with Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson, two of Kentucky’s incoming freshman on this year’s squad, came out of the camp. Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 player in the class of 2026, who already took a visit to Kentucky recently, was also shown in the picture. All four players are Kentucky natives.
Taylen Kinney, Tyran Stokes, Malachi Moreno, and Jasper Johnson all participating with Team USA (U19).
Kinney is a priority for Kentucky, and Pope planting the idea of being a Wildcat in his mind this past weekend certainly builds the hype of his commitment being a future reality.
However, we can’t act like Pat Kelsey hasn’t already beat Pope to the punch, and it may be too late to change Kinney’s mind on being a Cardinal.
“I probably talk to coach Kelsey twice a week,” Kinney said. “He talks to my parents multiple times a week. I talk to the whole staff all of the time.”
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He later added on some words that no Wildcat fan would want to hear.
“They (Louisville’s staff) just told me that I was their guy,” Kinney said. “I fit perfectly into their system, and there’s no other school that I fit better into than them.
A common member of Big Blue Nation would likely think “yeah alright, wait until you get that Kentucky treatment,” and with the climate of today’s recruiting trail, who knows what can happen.
It will likely be a long time before the star guard makes an official decision, but who doesn’t like a good back-and-forth between two rival programs. The bell has already rung, and round one goes to the Cardinals, but the Wildcats are coming out swinging for round two.
Being from Louisville doesn’t necessarily make you a cardinal, and Mark Pope has set out to prove that in the biggest possible way.
The top-ranked overall recruit in next year’s class, Tyran Stokes, officially took a visit to Lexington on Sunday, June 8. This comes in lieu of many rumors that he’d canceled his visit altogether due to frustration with fans trying to dig for information online.
Last month in a cryptic post on X, Stokes said, “Why can’t y’all give a kid some privacy”. As curious as that was, especially given the proximity to his originally planned visit to Kentucky, it seems that the true issue had no bearing on his choice to hear Coach Pope’s plea.
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And, as Kentucky fans now know, sometimes that’s all it takes to get a guy in blue and white.
The Louisville native, at 6’7, 230, has become widely renowned for his strong slashing ability as a multi-threat scorer on the wing. Stokes is the sort of player that, nobody who you already have on your team, you make room for him. He’s got an intangible build made for the big leagues, and he’s not even out of high school yet.
Stokes is the kind of guy that’d have NBA scouts sitting court side in Rupp Arena. While that level of national buzz isn’t always a good thing, it’s hard to underscore the possibility, and excitement, of the top recruit in the nation committing to the Cats come 2026.
In the very least, Kentucky is in the race, alongside Kansas and Louisville as heavy pursuers. It’s never too early to look ahead, and, as usual, Pope and staff are doing just that with the biggest names in the game.
Earlier today, Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats received the commitment from Andrija Jelavic, a 6-foot-11 big from Croatia.
As first reported by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Jelavic is one of the most highly regarded European prospects that is taking his talent to the NCAA.
Soon to be 21 years old, Jelavic averaged 10.8 points per game on 60% shooting from the field to go along with 7.4 rebounds per game for Mega Superbet, the same club that NBA Champion and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic played for.
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As a shock to most, who were expecting Pope’s next commit to be a guard of some sorts, international players can now sign lucrative NIL deals. Kentucky, along with several of the elite colleges, are now in the European market.
Jelavic, with shades of current European big men, can do just about everything on the court. He can shoot, dribble, pass, finish at the rim, etc. With a very relevant comparison, Jelavic plays almost perfectly in the replacement role of Andrew Carr.
His commitment now makes him the fifth member of Pope’s additions this offseason, joining Kam Williams, Jaland Lowe, Mouhamed Dioubate and Jayden Quaintance.
With a 7’2” wingspan, joining an already impressive Kentucky frontcourt, it’s safe to say for certain that this new team will not lack in that department.
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Next year’s roster was loaded with talent already, but now with the addition of Jelavic, lots of questions are arising: Who will start? How many more players is Pope going to add? What will happen with the walk-ons?
There’s plenty to think about for Pope and his staff before the season starts, but like he said back when he introduced himself to Big Blue Nation, “We’re here to win banners.” He’s going to make the moves he thinks will do just that for the Wildcats.