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Recapping John Calipari’s Interview With Paul Finebaum

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UK Athletics

On Tuesday, John Calipari made gave his latest interview. This with Paul Finebaum during SEC meetings in Destin.

Let’s see what all he had to say.

What is the state of your program?

“We were the fifth-seeded team in that tournament and lost. I’m still sick over it. Jacob is coming back, Oscar is coming. I mean we got a team. (goes on to list the remainder of the roster)…

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We got a terrific group. It’s Kentucky, we play for the national championship. My thing always is, you want to be in the hunt. We were in the hunt last year. Two years ago, when we win our league by three games, they shut down the tournament. That team could’ve won the whole thing. You want to be in the hunt, and I am looking at this team, and we have a chance. We really do.”

How do you deal with it (the loss to St. Peters)?

“There’s some grieving. I have never had a team lose to a seed like that, but they weren’t a 15 seed, Saint Peters was really good. We had never done that, so I had to deal with that. Like okay, ‘where do you go?’ You look back, ‘what could we have done?’

We weren’t great the last five games. Guys didn’t come back the way I thought they would. If we lose, who is taking responsibility? I will. If we win, I push those kids to the front and move to the back a little bit. I’m going to figure out a way to put this on me because I don’t want it on the kids. I’d rather it be on me, I am the adult in the room.

These young people gave everything they could to the university. We were like 3rd in the country (in the NET), 2nd on offense, and all that stuff. That team was exciting. I loved coaching last year’s team, had a ball. You know what? That last game, really the last couple of games, we just weren’t what we were two or three weeks earlier. I thought the injuries would help us, get more guys and we’d bounce back. I don’t think TyTy ever got healthy. Played Kellan too many minutes.

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You know what? At the end of the day, you can’t steal the joy of that season. The last game, you got to go through it, you got to deal with it. Then I got to lead by showing our guys ‘okay now next, here we go’. They’re coming on campus the next couple of days. We’re getting ready for this coming year to go do what we do.”

What has kept you at Kentucky?

“I think I got the best job in basketball, and I believe that. Yeah, I’ve had some opportunities to look or leave, and you know what? At the end of the day, you look at this situation, we have the chance to win it every year.

Mitch and I are meeting because it’s unacceptable if we’re not the gold standard in facilities and everything else. It’s not acceptable if midnight madness isn’t something talked about for a month. We need the campout going again.

Here’s what I say. See basketball is different than football. In football, you need the calvary. In basketball one guy can make a difference in winning the whole thing or getting to the Final Four, one guy. To have everything the gold standard, we’ve always been that. We slipped a little bit in some of the facilities. Now I’m not saying our facilities are bad, they’re not bad, they’re just not the gold standard.

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Mitch and I are going to sit down and talk ‘okay, what’s the path?’. How do we get that going to where anybody that walks on our campus and sees any facilities, knows, ‘Wow, look at this’? We’re going to get there. Like I said, he and I are going to sit down and talk about it, but again what we do, the big picture, is getting kids to that next level by developing young people.”

How have you adapted to change and continue to relate to these players?

“What’s next and how can we be first at it? What’s out there? What are we allowed to do? (referring to NIL) If you truly care about the kids and are authentic about it, you’ll always be able to go on because they’ll know you’re about them. Jacob ran his course, did his thing, and is coming back. He will be unbelievable. He will be a first-round pick.

You have Shaedon Sharpe right now going through this process. A great kid, who I love, who came to us in the middle of last season, and had every intention of ‘I’m sitting out, and I’m playing next year, and I am going to lead us and we’re going to go do something crazy’. Well, circumstances change. Now for me, I want to coach the kid. I want him back at Kentucky, but if he is a top-10 pick, and he’s your son. I mean it’s a hard one… I just don’t want our kids to be mad at him for doing something he probably has to do (if he’s a top-10 pick).”

How do you deal with all the noise?

“Social media has amped the stuff up and sometimes it’s a ‘follow the leader type of deal’. At the end of the day, being at Kentucky, you have the greatest fans. The other side of it is they’re activated and they’re into it. They’re watching everything and losing is life and death. When you’re winning, there is nothing more euphoric.

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I can remember us driving from the airport after winning the national title, and people from the nursing home are in wheelchairs and on the street waving. I’m like, ‘are you serious?’. I got emotional because this is what it means to all the people in our state.

I’ve done this for a long time. The bullets are shot through bazooka holes. The greatest job, the greatest opportunity, we got to make everything the gold standard, which is what it’s been. You know what? Let’s go on and do some crazy stuff, which we have a chance to do.”

You can listen to the interview in its entirety here starting at the 12:50 mark.

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Men's Basketball

CBS Sports: Kentucky Has “ended pursuits” in Transfer Portal Following Aberdeen Commitment

In the wake of yet another addition to Kentucky’s incoming roster, CBS Sports reports that Coach Pope and staff may have closed the portal.

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Mark Pope and staff may have everything they need from the transfer portal.
Chet White | UK Athletics

Following another flurry of transfer portal additions in his second year at the helm, it appears that Mark Pope and staff are satisfied with their sophomore haul. The portal in Lexington may be officially closed for the 2025-26′ season.

Right after Kentucky received the surprising commitment of Denzel Aberdeen, Matt Norlander, an analyst for CBS Sports, posted the following on X (Twitter):

“Barring any portal defections, Kentucky has ended its pursuits of all other portal targets, sources told CBS Sports. Getting Aberdeen today [April 21] meant they’ve moved off Andrej Stojakovic, Rylan Griffen, etc. Otega Oweh going through pre-draft process-but I expect him back in Lex”.

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With the addition of Aberdeen, the Wildcats’ roster ballooned to near-max capacity for next season. Seeing two of the team’s walk-on players, Grant Darbyshire and Walker Horn, enter the transfer portal seemed to all but confirm this suspicion, too.

Losing One of Our Own

That is, until last night. With less than two hours remaining for players to do so, Travis Perry shocked much of the Big Blue Nation by throwing his name into the hat. This came just weeks after a string of comments from the Kentucky-native point guard seemed to confirm his return for a sophomore season.

Though all the same, given Kentucky’s bulk of back-court additions this offseason, his departure makes sense for the sake of playing time alone. The Lyon King will be sorely missed.

So while the Kentucky staff may still be very much content with their current roster, with hundreds of players remaining in the portal and an unexpected spot on the roster coming open, another grab is far from out of the question.

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Who Coach Pope and company would go after is entirely unclear, as that potential player would likely have to accept a minimized role off the bench for a stretch of his time in Lexington. If anything, the logical replacement would be a direct fill-in at the PG2/PG3 spot in Perry’s absence.

Either way, the ‘Cats are set to come into next season as one of the most exciting teams in college basketball with a ceiling far out of view. Mark Pope continues to prove his prowess in the transfer market, too, easing the worries of Wildcats fans and closing the door on many supposed “insiders” who’ve spent the last month suggesting otherwise.

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Men's Basketball

REPORT: Travis Perry Enters Transfer Portal

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Kentucky basketball Travis Perry talks about growing more comfortable on the court.
Jordan Prather | IMAGN

The transfer portal has been kind to Kentucky in the Mark Pope era. Last season, the staff was able to build a Sweet Sixteen roster almost exclusively from the portal, and this offseason have put together a top-five portal class.

While the portal giveth, it also taketh. Just hours before the deadline to enter, Kentucky native and fan favorite Travis Perry has entered the transfer portal, per multiple reports.

Coming to Kentucky as the state’s all-time high-school scoring record holder, fans were excited to see how his career would unfold in Lexington.

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Not expecting to play much freshman, he was called upon due to injuries and played some key minutes for the Wildcats into the postseason. He averaged 2.7 PPG and .6 APG on 32% shooting from three.

Looking at the depth chart, it was difficult to see where Perry would get much playing time next season, leading to his decision to enter the portal.

Perry has yet to release an official statement, but all the best to him in his future.

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Men's Basketball

Top Transfer Guard Denzel Aberdeen Commits to Kentucky

Former Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen commits to Kentucky, likely closing the transfer portal for next year’s roster.

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Denzel Aberdeen commits to Kentucky.
UF Athletics

Another day, another “boom.” Denzel Aberdeen has officially committed to Kentucky for the 2025-26’ season.

A soon-to-be senior guard fresh off his championship win with Florida, Aberdeen spent his first three years of eligibility in Gainesville. Now, following an apparent conflict in the Gators’ rotation, he’s swapped teams in the southeast.

At 6 ‘5”, 190, Aberdeen spent much of this past season beating defenders off the dribble and making them pay at the rim. His speed and size made him a nightmare off the bench for opposing teams, and for the short stretch of play that he started during the year, Florida didn’t miss a beat. 

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In 19 minutes, Aberdeen averaged 8 points, two rebounds and one assist per game. His consistent contribution to the Gators’ title run made him one of the most coveted transfers in the cycle this season, and given his big blue commitment just days after entering the portal, Mark Pope clearly wasted no time in Kentucky’s pursuit.

Aberdeen slots in as yet another addition to what was already one of the strongest portal classes going into next season. His SEC experience and combo-guard intangibles make Aberdeen one of the most exciting portal players to come through Lexington in a long while, reinforcing Kentucky’s back court to what may be the final degree.

Whether or not Mark Pope is officially done for next season, nobody is sure, but this commitment only further cements the fact that he knows exactly what he’s doing. Just like the  fanbase behind him, Coach Pope seems to never sleep.

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