Tyran Stokes could drastically swing Mark Pope's future in Lexington

There is a reason Mark Pope has fought desperately for No. 1 recruit Tyran Stokes, going so far as to sign his former high school teammate, Zoom Diallo, and offer his mentor, Jamal Crawford, a job on the Kentucky coaching staff. He’s not only the best option available for the Wildcats talent-wise at the high school level, but anywhere — portal and international ranks included. No one can move the needle quite like Stokes, who has a college-ready frame with positional versatility, court vision, three-level scoring upside and a competitive fire that is second-to-none. His floor is exceptionally high as a do-it-all point forward, penciled in as the likely No. 1 pick in the 2027 NBA Draft.

That replacement does not exist, which is the issue right now for the Wildcats ahead of the 6-7 wing’s highly anticipated commitment Tuesday night. The five-in-five rule could have opened the door to some star power — including a potential Otega Oweh return — but the NCAA pushed back on graduating seniors getting an extra year. Beyond Stokes, the only real options are Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic and Santa Clara’s Allen Graves — two guys worth throwing bags of cash toward, but both strongly considering keeping their names in the draft. Money talks, especially if they don’t love the feedback they receive from NBA teams in the coming weeks, but they are both massive risks. The reclassification options leave much to be desired, too, and the international path is a crapshoot.

At that point, you’re banking on Kam Williams and/or Braydon Hawthorne making serious star-level leaps this offseason — possible, but, again, a risk.

Kentucky exceeded expectations in year one with eight top-15 victories to tie an all-time NCAA record before returning to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. It wasn’t a perfect year and you don’t want to live in the territory of losing 12 games in a season and losing by double-digits to your SEC rival in the NCAA Tournament, but it was a start any sane BBN member would say was successful. The Wildcats failed to meet — or even come close to — expectations in year two, losing 14 games and getting run out of the gym in the Round of 32 with the sport’s most expensive roster. Pope deserves credit for salvaging what could have been a totally busted season, as injuries never allowed the plane from taking flight off the runway, but freebies don’t exist in Lexington. The pressure is on entering year three with the seat getting hotter and a new athletics director coming in ready to call his own shots. Year four is not guaranteed.

Ironically, Pope has done a tremendous job putting the roster together up to this point. He nailed the backcourt in Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins while also retaining Malachi Moreno, who is capable of his own All-SEC jump. Ousmane N’Diaye is a fun wildcard who could prove to be a home run for the Wildcats, as well, coming in as a solid producer in Italy’s top league. He’s positioned himself nicely with those four, plus Williams, Hawthorne and the depth pieces of Trent Noah, Mason Williams, Reese Potter and Zyon Hawthorne.

But it’s missing a go-to star on the wing — a Stokes-sized hole to fill with outside options extremely limited. Land him, and optimism is right back on track with a little bit of everything to go with the best pure talent Pope has ever gotten his hands on. From there, you can fill out the rest of the group with shooting and complementary fits. Singles only, no moon shots necessary.

Miss, and there are ifs, buts, and maybes that won’t have any fans feeling overly confident about this team being a serious championship contender in 2026-27. Certainly not with the Floridas, Illinoises and UConns of the world reloading for another run.

Pope and the Wildcats are close, yet so far — and Stokes could be the difference either way.