Mark Pope, Kentucky coaches went to see Tay Kinney for an in-home visit

Mark Pope is always out recruiting.

After reloading his Kentucky roster ahead of the 2025-26 season, Pope took a trip to check out one of his priority high school targets. Four-star class of 2026 point guard Tay Kinney hosted Pope, along with assistant coaches Jason Hart and Cody Fueger, for an in-home visit on Wednesday. Kinney is a native of Newport, KY, who spent his junior high school season at Overtime Elite playing alongside incoming Kentucky freshman Jasper Johnson.

And if you look closely at the picture below that Kinney posted on social media, you’ll see he and the coaches were watching YouTube clips of Kinney’s highlights.

Thank you @CoachMarkPope @JHart_1825 @Cody_Fueger for the in home visit!! pic.twitter.com/32jSrpfmDi

— Tay Kinney (@Taylen_0) April 23, 2025

A 6-foot-1 lead guard, Kinney is considered a four-star recruit and is ranked as the No. 17 overall prospect in the 2026 cycle. He averaged 20.1 points, five assists, four rebounds, and 2.3 steals per outing for OTE’s RWE this past season. He shot 55.6 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep.

Kinney has already taken an official visit to Purdue and has plans to OV at UK and Louisville in the future. Xavier coaches visited him at his house on Tuesday. Pope officially offered Kinney a scholarship last summer, and the staff has watched him play multiple times since then.

“(Kentucky) had a great year, you know. Made it to the Sweet Sixteen with all transfers,” Kinney told On3 earlier this month. “You know, they got Jasper (Johnson) coming in. I like what (Pope) did to that program. Jasper is on me every day, just saying, ‘Come to Kentucky. Come to Kentucky.’

“Coach Pope is really outgoing. He’s real funny, but he’s real cool though.”

Kinney’s recruitment will heat up as we get into the summer. Kentucky has positioned itself well at this stage with the in-state talent.

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