Everyone Mark Pope watched on day one of EYBL Session III in Indianapolis
Things are a little bit different here in Indianapolis at the start of Nike EYBL Session III, the first live period of Mark Pope’s career as Kentucky‘s head coach. Under John Calipari, you could pretty safely assume the staff was hitting the top 25 of each recruiting class, going right down the list of players to watch and interview knowing there was probably some form of mutual interest with the Wildcats. And the coaches would spread across courts, but typically all under the same roof, and even more usually sitting side-by-side — Calipari was a fan of rolling four-deep into gyms to show recruits he was all in on them.
Under Pope? Well, let’s just start by talking about where each coach was on day one. The new Kentucky head coach was joined by assistant coach Jason Hart as the lone duo in Indianapolis for EYBL, while associate head coach Alvin Brooks III was in Wichita, KS at the NXTPRO Circuit with Puma. Elsewhere, assistant coach Cody Fueger was in Bryan, TX for the 3SSB Circuit with Adidas.
Dividing and conquering across the country, evaluating kids of all age groups and talent levels, searching far and wide for the right fits for Pope’s system in Lexington.
Nothing wrong with either approach, just different.
KSR had boots on the ground in Indianapolis following around Pope and Hart throughout the morning with a few other eyes and ears in Wichita and Bryan keeping an eye on the other staffers. Who was Kentucky watching to open the live period? Take a look at the running list below.
5-star SF AJ Dybantsa (No. 1)
- 6-8, 185 lbs
- Prolific Prep
- Needham, MA
5-star PF Cameron Boozer (No. 2)
- 6-9, 205 lbs
- Christopher Columbus HS
- Miami, FL
5-star PF Caleb Wilson (No. 4)
- 6-9, 195 lbs
- Holy Innocents Episcopal School
- Atlanta, GA
5-star PG Darius Acuff (No. 7)
- 6-1, 175 lbs
- IMG Academy
- Detroit, MI
5-star CG Jasper Johnson (No. 10)
- 6-4, 170 lbs
- Link Academy
- Lexington, KY
4-star PG Cayden Boozer (No. 16)
- 6-3, 190 lbs
- Christopher Columbus HS
- Miami, FL
4-star SG Hudson Greer (No. 22)
- 6-6, 185 lbs
- Montverde Academy
- Austin, TX
4-star SF Tounde Yessoufou (No. 24)
- 6-6, 210 lbs
- St. Joseph
- Santa Maria, CA
4-star CG Jerry Easter (No. 27)
- 6-4, 185 lbs
- La Lumiere School
- Toledo, OH
4-star SF Shelton Henderson (No. 49)
- 6-6, 210 lbs
- Bellaire
- Houston, TX
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