Mark Pope met with pair of key Kentucky transfer portal targets on Thursday

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Nov 14, 2021; Syracuse, New York, USA; Drexel Dragons forward Amari Williams (22) drives to the basket against the defense of Syracuse Orange center Frank Anselem (left) during the first half at the Carrier Dome. (Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)

New Kentucky men’s head basketball coach Mark Pope hit up the jet and went flying around the country on Thursday to do some in-person recruiting. We are now starting to gather some intel on the targets that Pope met with.

Kentucky is zoning in on some of the best bigs in college basketball free agency. According to Jeff Goodman, Pope met with Drexel big Amari Williams and Utah State big Great Osobor on Thursday.

Kentucky's Mark Pope met with Drexel transfer Amari Williams (12.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg) today and will meet with Utah State transfer Great Osobor (17.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg) tomorrow, source told @TheFieldOf68.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 19, 2024

Williams (6-10, 265) spent the last four seasons at Drexel earning CAA Defensive Player of the Year honors for a third time. In his final season with the Dragons, Williams averaged 12.2 points on 51.7 percent shooting in 22.9 minutes per game. The England native’s real value is with rebounding and defense. According to KenPom, Williams is in the top 100 nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (65th), defensive rebound percentage (28th), block percentage (39th), and fouls drawn rate (23rd). The five-man is a true defensive center that can anchor a defense and clear the glass. The scoring numbers were also very efficient without any three-point shooting.

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Osobor (6-8, 250) followed head coach Danny Sprinkle from Montana State to Utah State and delivered in a big way for the Mountain West regular-season champs. Osobor put up 17.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 35.6 minutes per game. The transfer was one of the top post-up players in college basketball and took home Mountain West Player of the Year honors in his only season in the conference. Osobor shot 59.1 percent from two on high-volume attempts (345) and was No. 8 nationally in free throw rate.

Great Osobor and Amari Williams were high school teammates. Now each is being recruited by Kentucky at the same time. Both are top-20 players in On3’s transfer portal rankings. Mark Pope is making some moves on the recruiting trail.