Kentucky Coach Mark Pope will have a 2027 five-star recruit on campus this week

Mark Pope is getting going recruiting the 2027 class.

Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope looks on during the second half against the Iowa State Cyclones during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Le-Imagn Images | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

Mark Pope is recruiting the 2027 class after some struggles in the 2026 class. Big Blue Nation has been frustrated with the way this staff has recruited, as they went all in on Tyran Stokes, and this caused Kentucky to miss on some other elite players in the class. I have a feeling that Pope is going to do things a lot differently in this class after the debacle that was the 2026 class.

One player that the staff has had a ton of contact with is five-star Ryan Hampton, who, at one point, was considered a reclass candidate to the 2026 class, but it sounds like he will stay in 2027. The 6’6 wing is ranked as the number ten player in the 2027 class according to the 247Sports composite ranking.

Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope reacts to a play during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

It has been reported by Joe Tipton that Hampton will be on campus this week to visit Kentucky, and the hope is that Pope can continue to make a good impression on the young wing. Whatever Pope has done in high school recruiting to this point in his Kentucky tenure isn’t working, and he needs to switch things up because what he has been doing is not working.

Last go around in the 2026 class, the Wildcats were involved with just about every elite player in the class, and Pope is going to cast a wide net once again. The goal here will be not to go all in on one player like the staff did with Stokes. When he committed to Kansas, it fully burnt Kentucky, as there were a bunch of players Kentucky could have had.

Ryan Hampton has been putting in work this season in the Grind Session 🥶 @ryhamp14 @thegrindsession pic.twitter.com/5GZDlKUlrK

— League Ready (@LeagueRDY) March 26, 2026

When it comes to Hampton on the floor, he is a very good player with a ton of upside. He is a bit raw as a shooter, which will need to be fixed for him to succeed at Kentucky, but he is a freak athlete. It sounds like the staff has built a good relationship with Hampton, and the goal should be to get him committed as soon as possible to avoid a Stokes-like situation.

Hampton is going to develop his shot and become a superstar, so Coach Pope needs to do everything in his power to get this kid to Lexington. If Kentucky were able to land Hampton, it would give fans a lot more confidence in Pope’s ability to recruit high school players.

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