Kentucky adds another official visitor to September schedule

There’s still a ways to go and schedules can always change, but Mark Pope and Kentucky men’s basketball appear to be focusing on two major official visitor weekends for this fall.

The most obvious one is the weekend of Big Blue Madness, which is set for Friday, Oct. 11. Four-star C commit Malachi Moreno and uncommitted four-star SF Tounde Yessoufou will be in Lexington for the program’s annual preseason event. Those will be official visits. A pair of 2026 recruits — both in-state products — will also make it to campus for unofficial visits in four-star PG Tay Kinney and four-star SF Jayden Johnson.

But a month before then, Kentucky will host another group of the nation’s top recruits. We already know about five-star PF Caleb Wilson and four-star PF Eric Reibe, two 2025 prospects who are scheduled to officially visit UK the weekend of Sept. 13. We learned of a third visitor over the weekend.

First reported by HS Top Recruits, class of 2026 four-star Miikka Muurinen has scheduled a trio of visits for the fall. The 6-foot-10, 200-pound power forward will visit Utah (Sept. 7), Kentucky (Sept. 14), and Duke (Sept. 27). Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ has since confirmed the trip to Kentucky, adding that it will be an official visit.

“They’ve reached out and I’ve talked with the coaching staff about my future and a future with Kentucky,” Muurinen previously told KSR+ in late July. “They play good basketball. I like their campus, their coach, and everything.”

Muurinen is considered the No. 24 overall high school junior in the country, per the On3 Industry Ranking. He received an offer from Kentucky last month, one day after Duke extended a scholarship. The likes of Kansas, Alabama, Illinois, UCLA, Arkansas, Michigan, North Carolina, BYU, Texas, Ohio State, and many more have also reached out with offers.

It was a massive summer for the native of Finland, who represented his country during the Olympic European Qualifiers. Muurinen also suited up on the Nike EYBL circuit for Bradley Beal Elite 16U, averaging 17.8 points, four rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 22 minutes per game during Peach Jam on shooting splits of 61.8/50/90. Bradley Beal Elite 16U won the E16 Championship to close out the EYBL summer season where Coach Pope was among those in attendance to watch Muurinen in action.

Soon, he’ll be treated to an all-expenses paid visit to Lexington.