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Why Antonio Reeves Is a Good Fit at Kentucky

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UK Athletics

Following Tuesday’s reports that Antonio Reeves could delay his decision to May 10th-15th, the transfer from Illinois State surprised the Big Blue Nation on Wednesday as he announced his commitment to Kentucky.

Reeves’ decision conveniently came just hours after the NBA confirmed Shaedon Sharpe’s eligibility for the 2022 NBA Draft, so take that for what you will.

With that being said, Kentucky is receiving one of the best scorers available in the transfer portal in Reeves, and we will discuss why he is such a good fit at Kentucky.

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Fills a position of need

Despite bringing back the unanimous national player of the year, a Bob Cousy finalist point guard, and bringing in two McDonald’s All-American freshmen, there is not a pure scorer, which is where Reeves comes in.

Losing two players of a similar mold, Davion Mintz and Kellan Grady to graduation, Kentucky is in need of shooting and scoring, and Reeves most certainly brings that. Last season, Reeves averaged 20.1 points, and did so efficiently, doing so on a usage rate of 28.6% and while shooting 46.9 percent from the field, 39 percent from 3-point range, and 81.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Unlike Mintz or Grady, Reeves is a better all-around scorer and has shown that he can provide scoring as more than a spot-up shooter.

He is a bucket getter

One of Kentucky’s biggest weaknesses in recent years has been scoring within the half-court offense. Just last season, Kentucky was rated just slightly above average in shots taken in the last 4 seconds of the shot clock, (62nd percentile).

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That weakness is a strength of Reeves’, as last season he ranked in the 88th percentile nationally in late clock situations, and received an “excellent” grade by Synergy. In addition, Reeves earned the same grade as an overall offensive player, pick-and-roll ball-handler, jump shooter off the dribble, and isolation scorer.

What does this mean? In short, Reeves can get you a bucket when it’s needed most.

Veteran leadership and his “Chicago mindset”

In an interview with The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker, Reeves talked about what he can bring to Kentucky, saying, “With the experience I have in college, I can be a leader. I can be one of the guys who helps the younger players to understand how to play, what their role is, teach them the pace of the game. And just that Chicago mindset, being gritty and giving it all I got.”

As the current roster stands, Reeves will come in having scored more points in college basketball than anyone else on the team (1,195). While the level of competition hasn’t been the same, Reeves has scored 17 against Ohio State and 25 against a Big-Ten winning Wisconsin team in hislast two matchups against Power Five teams. His experience and scoring ability will bring much-needed stability to the backcourt next season.

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Coming out of high school, Reeves was not a highly recruited player nor has he yet to prove that he can play on college basketball’s biggest stage. However, he will bring his Chicago toughness and will fight to help Kentucky towards the goal of a national championship.


A leader, a scorer, and a fighter. Kentucky got a good one folks.

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BB Recruiting

Top 20 Prospect Taylen Kinney Set To Visit Kentucky

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James Weber | The Enquirer

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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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.

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.

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No. 1 Ranked Recruit Takes Official Visit to Kentucky

The top-ranked recruit in the nation, Tyran Stokes, took his official visit to Kentucky following a prior delay.

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Tyran Stokes takes his official visit to Kentucky.
Mark J. Rebilas | Imagn Images

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.

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Kentucky Earns Commitment From European Big Andrija Jelavic

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ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic

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. 

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