Mark Pope says portal presents 'huge advantage over recruiting high school' on The Jim Rome Show

There are some exceptions — Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Derik Queen, Egor Demin, Labaron Philon, Jase Richardson and Boogie Fland among them — but for every standout freshman in March Madness, there are star upperclassmen outnumbering them by the dozen. For Kentucky, it’s almost exclusively veterans leading this team to the Sweet 16, anchored by Lamont Butler, Otega Oweh, Koby Brea and Amari Williams with a nice sprinkle of youth in Brandon Garrison and Collin Chandler.

There are multiple ways to win games and advance — Duke sits comfortably as the current favorite to win the national title, to drive that point home — but there is something comforting about experience raising a team’s floor this time of the year.

And by this time of the year, we also mean the start of transfer season with the portal officially open for business this past Monday. That’s how Mark Pope built his first roster in Lexington, and you better believe he’ll be utilizing it again this next cycle.

What’s worked for this group, that is now just two wins away from the Final Four?

“I think for us, we were really fortunate and really intentional about recruiting great human beings,” Pope said on The Jim Rome Show. “I’m telling you, if you got to sit down with each of these guys, these are special young people. Every single one of them can see something more important than themselves in the world, right? Every single one of them has been really intentional about getting to know their teammates and loving them and fighting for them and playing for them.

“It hasn’t been as much about what I’ve done, or what our staff has done. It’s what our guys have done, working to build bonds with each other. That’s given us a chance to withstand all the adversity that we’ve faced during the course of the season.”

Kentucky has signed top-40 recruits Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno and Acaden Lewis for next season to fill those rookie roles while some combination of Oweh, Chandler, Garrison, Trent Noah and Travis Perry could all return. That still leaves a handful of spots to add talent, and in Pope’s eyes, they’re reserved for top-level portal pieces — barring a big fish addition from the high school ranks.

He prefers it this way because the data and film on transfers is more readily available than with high school guys. With that, it’s easier to put the puzzle pieces together and know exactly what you’re getting at this level a year from now.

“Well, I’ll tell you what the portal is,” Pope said. “It gives you a huge advantage over recruiting high school because you have data from college. You have film running elite-level sets against elite-level defenses, doing it over and over and over again. You’re recruiting guys that aren’t just trying to learn the college game, they’re trying to fine-tune the college game. So finding the right talent — especially for us, because we play a unique style. We’re very, very slanted toward a pro-style with a ton of movement away from the ball.

“So because of our style of play, it’s almost easier to go pick out those guys. They actually have the skill sets that translate to what we do. There are some advantages, some real, substantial advantages to recruiting guys out of the portal.”

Who does that include? KSR is keeping a running list of the portal pieces Kentucky has already been in contact with — with thousands of new entries to go.

Expect more experience next season for the Cats.