Mark Pope answers questions on summer trip, international scouting, Kam Williams, and more

A day after answering several questions from the Big Blue Nation, Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope was back for another round on Thursday.

Pope rattled through six different fan-submitted questions, hitting on several topics along the way.

Among the most notable was his response to a question about Kentucky potentially going on a foreign tour this summer now that teams can do them yearly instead of every four years. He said that the Wildcats were scheduled to go play in Jerusalem this summer, but the ongoing war in that area has put that trip on hold. Pope is taking suggestions for where UK should go instead. Regardless, it sounds like Pope still plans on playing summer basketball with next season’s group somewhere.

Another interesting tidbit was his detailed response on how the staff goes about scouting international prospects. Kentucky recently signed Senegalese forward Ousmane N’Diaye, who is currently playing over in Italy, and has been linked to other international talents this offseason. He also addressed the reports that he went overseas to watch Brazilian center Marcio Santos play in Israel last week, despite Santos later committing to LSU.

“That’s not true,” Pope said matter-of-factly.

Then there were Pope’s comments on returning wing Kam Williams, who was a rotational piece last season for Kentucky but was playing his best basketball right before a broken foot forced him to the bench for nearly two months. Pope was asked about the small forward position and if Williams is the one he sees serving as the starter there. Pope says Williams is ready to make that leap, adding that the rising junior is now up to 210 pounds.

Pope will be back for a third round of questions on Friday. In his post on social media, he says he’ll touch on the “GM topic”. Kentucky does not currently have an official general manager on staff, which has been the subject of criticism this offseason. But while we wait for him to answer more questions, dive into the full Q&A from Thursday’s batch of questions below.

All right, Big Blue Nation. Let’s hit it.

Q (@bigbluekodakk): How does the staff evaluate international prospects and what their impact would be in the SEC?

A: We go by film, we go by analytics, we go by league, especially how it incorporates into the SEC because there are so many different levels of league. We evaluate age and trajectory. We have innumerable contacts in the States, in the NBA, and in EuroLeague that we can go to for references to get feedback on players. And then most importantly, when we can, we need to go see guys. Especially those guys that we’re kinda not sure on, laying eyes on a guy can be the difference-maker.

Q (@Justme7179): How come you flew overseas to see an athlete that had already been committed?

A: That’s not true.

Q (@JCHawks_BBN): What type of role and style do you have in mind for Ousmane N’Diaye and what should BBN know about him? Also, most of us probably need a pronunciation guide on his name.

A: It’s Ousmane N’Diaye (OOSE-mahn EN-jye). Ousmane. It’s spelled O-U but it’s pronounced Ousmane. The most exciting thing for me is I actually got to go see him in Cremona, Italy, where he’s playing right now. And the great news is he’s just a little but taller than me and when we did our standing reach comparison, I reached as high as I possibly could and my fingers barely came to the bottom of the crease in his hand. He’s long. He’s gonna be special here.

Q (@TristanUda): Best meal during your international recruiting trip?

A: Easily, it was in Ljubljana at Ošterija Pr’Noni.

Q (@LockedOnUK): What is your expectation for the small forward position? Is Kam Williams ready to take a step forward and become a starter?

A: Yes. Kam was our leading DPA (Defensive Points Allowed) guy last year. Missed 12 games but was still our leading plus/minus guy. His foot is healthy now. And best of all, two days ago he sent me a text, I got it in the morning, he was so excited he sent me a picture of the scale. He’s up to 210 pounds. Kam Williams. Let’s go.

Q (@brent.mills15): When and where ya’ll going this summer?

A: We had a trip scheduled to Jerusalem. It got canceled due to the conflict. So now we’re looking for another venue and I’m taking suggestions. Hit me up, BBN.

Hit on some more questions today, tackling the GM topic tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/3Y3gu5jfs5

— Mark Pope (@CoachMarkPope) May 7, 2026