“They have been one of the schools I watched as a kid,” Cyril told 247 on why he chose Kentucky. “Growing up as a kid playing basketball, I think that was the first college basketball I watched.
“When I started playing I didn’t know much about basketball so I started watching on YouTube and I saw some of Anthony Davis’ highlights and how he played in college so I think that was the moment I fell in love with the game and who I wanted to be.”
With Oscar Tshiebwe remaining in the NBA Draft, the Wildcats needed to find a player that could contribute in the frontcourt. As a response, they looked to Cyril, who originally caught their eyes in the summer of 2021, just a few months after arriving in the States from his home country of Nigeria – raised in Enugu, just a few hours away from fellow Wildcat Ugonna Onyenso in Owerri.
Originally a part of the 2024 class, Cyril was expected to reclassify and join the team this coming season. However, that appears unlikely now based on what Branham is reporting.
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Nonetheless, this is a big addition for the program, even if it’s not until the 2024-25 season.
Cyril’s 7-foot, 240-pound frame certainly suggests his body is ready for the college game. He’s currently ranked 28th overall in the 2024 class by Rivals.
Combining his physique and knack for trying to break the backboard, Cyril has been given the nickname “Baby Shaq”.
The physical tools are apparent, but he currently makes the majority of his impact on the glass and defensively. In fact, he told On3’s Joe Tipton last year, “When I first started playing, I didn’t know how to put the ball in the basket.”
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This is where his knack for defense began.
“My coach told me, ‘Even if you can’t score, you can still stop the other team from scoring’, so that’s the mindset I have. I block shots and get rebounds for my teammates. I don’t have to score, I just want to win the game,” Cyril explained.
In just 20 minutes per game for Overtime Elite this past season, Cyril averaged 8.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and a league-leading 3.4 blocks. For his efforts, Cyril was named the 2023 OTE Defensive Player of the Year while also earning First-Team All-OTE honors.
Looking ahead, Kentucky will hope the recent transfer addition of West Virginia forward Tre Mitchell can help offset the loss of Oscar Tshiebwe, who fans just said goodbye to after a historically great career.
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Tshiebwe also met with Cyril during a visit in October of 2021.
“I watched him when I was visiting, and he put people to shame,” Cyril said of Tshiebwe. “I stood next to him, and he’s like 6-9, 6-8. He’s not really that tall, but when I see him play, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ He’s doing a really good job to get those stats, like 20 and 20. That’s crazy.”
In the coming years, Cyril has the chance to follow in his footsteps at Kentucky, a program he “would always watch on TV” growing up.
As for next season, Kentucky could look to add one more body in the frontcourt if another transfer emerges. But as of right now, the 2023-24 roster appears set, with Cyril set to join the team sometime in 2024.
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Check out some highlights of the newest Wildcat in action!
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.