Report: Kentucky to meet with Utah State transfer Great Osobor on Friday

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope will meet with Utah State transfer Great Osobor tomorrow, per Jeff Goodman. On3’s Transfer Portal Player Rankings consider Osobor the No. 10 available player in the portal.

Osobor spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career at Montana State before transferring to Utah State ahead of the 2023-24 season. Osobor took advantage of his new environment, averaging 17.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 57.7% from the field.

For his efforts, the 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward was named the 2024 Mountain West Player of the Year and was an Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention. Osobor appeared and started in all 36 games for Utah State, averaging a team-high 36.0 minutes per game.

Osobor is only Kentucky’s latest target in the portal. The program also reportedly met with Drexel transfer Amari Williams on Thursday. Williams and Osobor were high school teammates and are now both being targeted by UK.

Kentucky must add to its roster quickly. Since John Calipari accepted the offer to become Arkansas‘ next head coach, five Wildcats have entered the transfer portal and three have entered the draft. Further, four of Kentucky’s highly-touted prospects have re-opened their recruitment.

The only player who has not re-opened their recruitment since Kentucky hired Pope is four-star Travis Perry. The program also received a commitment from former top-40 recruit Collin Chandler.

Mark Pope reportedly hiring Mark Fox and Jason Hart

Pope may not be alone for his meeting with Osobor on Friday. Along with former BYU assistant Cody Fueger, Pope is reportedly hiring former Georgiahead coach Mark Fox and G-League Ignite head coach Jason Hart, per the Athletic’s Kyle Tucker.

Mark Fox and Pope have history. When Pope dropped out of medical school in 2009, Fox hired him to be Georgia’s director of basketball operations for the 2009-10 season. With head coaching experience at Nevada, Georgia and California, Pope boasts a career 324-263 record.

Jason Hart also has no shortage of experience. Hart played 10 years in the NBA before beginning his coaching career. His first collegiate coaching gig was at Pepperdine, but Hart quickly rose up the ranks and secured an assistant coaching position at USC.

In 2021, Hart was named the head coach of the NBA G League Ignite, a developmental team for players coming out of high school that plays against other teams in the NBA G League. Now, he will look to help Pope develop players at the collegiate level.