Mark Pope is 'shocked' by what gets said involving Kentucky's recruiting efforts

Pope believes Kentucky is actually in a good spot in recruiting. He says he and the staff are 'shocked' at times by the reports they see being put out.

Dec 13, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope yells to his players during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The college basketball recruiting landscape has never been more wild than it is now. With NIL in the fold, players are driving up negotations with schools to gain leverage from other programs, but it's not just players, its their agents and. coaches too. It's the media's job to put out what they're told, but in this day and age, money is mostly the driving factor and reports are used to gain leverage.

As for Kentucky, they've been a big victim of what's going on in college basketball with driving up NIL offers for recruits. Take NBA forward Trentyn Flowers for example. It was reported late Saturday night that programs such as Kentucky, Kansas, Florida, BYU, Indiana, USC, and Texas Tech were some of the schools involved. Well, that report turned out to be false, as many programs mentioned were actually not involved, including Kentucky. It was an attempt by whoever fed the information to gain leverage and drive up money offers.

Mark Pope actually opened up on this topic on his radio show Monday night. As we all know, over the last two months, Kentucky's perception in the recruiting world has taken a hit. Missing out on a number of recruits, but a lot of times in situations, are used to gain leverage with other schools, or even vice versa. Pope discussed Kentucky's recruiting perception. Don't believe everything you see online involving Kentucky, Pope says.

"It's got to be in the high 80% of things, of trend lines that you see going on on social media about Kentucky recruiting that is just so wrong, like it just is so off," Pope said on many recruiting reports involving Kentucky. "We're shocked and surprised a lot of times to hear different variations and directions of stories. I think a lot of times, people put information out just because they're trying to raise their own profile, whether it's agents or players or they're trying to increase their negotiating leverage with us in some cases, or with some other schools in some cases. There's so much out there publicly, and we just kind of shake our heads and be like, man, we're living iin a uniquely interesting world in terms of how creative reporting in general, on social media as a body is right now."

Pope was also asked on his radio show if he was concerned with not yet having a 2026 commit wrapped up. "No, actually, not concerned about it. I think we're in a great spot with with some of the guys that we're recruiting right now, and this landscape is literally changing by the minute. And so I think there's probably something real to the idea of having the most flexibility you can for the longest time. I just think that there's a part to that. So I think all those things are true. And it's certainly the most dynamic time to ever be in this recruiting space, and I think we're in a good spot."

As a reporter, double-checking your facts has never been as important as it is now in the world of recruiting. Including certain schools on lists, like the ones mentioned with Flowers, which turned out to be false. is a way for other schools to drive up their offer in order to compete with schools that have big budgets.