Top basketball recruits watched how Mark Pope’s BYU teams played. What did they see?

In truth, nobody knows what will happen come November when Mark Pope’s first Kentucky basketball team hits the hardwood.

Part of the fanfare that has surrounded the assembly of a brand-new coaching staff and roster in Lexington has been this unknown: What will the Wildcats look like when the pieces are finally settled in place?

For many Wildcats fans, this fall in Rupp Arena will mark their first experience watching a Pope-led basketball team.

But nearly a decade of data points exist to imply how the Wildcats are likely to play this season. Between his four seasons as the head coach at Utah Valley and five seasons leading BYU, Pope has an established basketball brand that includes an efficient, 3-point heavy offense that promotes floor-spacing and versatility.

And it’s not just Kentucky fans who have quickly gotten a crash course in Pope’s basketball philosophies.

Several top college basketball recruits have done their homework on Pope, and are also interested in how his principles will be applied at Kentucky.

Last weekend’s Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) session held just outside Indianapolis — part of the first live recruiting period of Pope’s UK tenure — brought together many of the top class of 2025 and 2026 high school players that Pope and the UK staff are starting to recruit.

Several of those players spoke about how Pope’s BYU teams played, and how they could envision themselves in the system that will now be implemented at Kentucky.

“I’ve watched BYU film, I watched them play a good amount last year because, although they (didn’t have) five-star prospects and very athletic guys, they won,” said Caleb Wilson, a five-star power forward in the 2025 recruiting class.

“And they won in a tough conference. It was really good.”

To Wilson’s point, BYU went 23-11 last season and earned a 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

A big reason for this level of success in the Cougars’ first season in the Big 12 Conference? Pope’s modern offensive approach, which was deployed to help the Cougars survive their debut season in the Big 12 while operating with a talent gap compared to other league schools.

With a five-out offense that placed a premium on cutting into open space, BYU’s brand of basketball produced some impressive results last season.

The Cougars averaged 81.4 points and attempted more 3-pointers per game (32) than all but one team in the nation. BYU also attempted more 3-pointers (50.4%) than 2-pointers (49.6%).

Wilson — ranked as the No. 4 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class by the 247Sports Composite — recently changed AAU programs on the Nike EYBL circuit. He went from being the featured player on the Georgia Stars to one of several top prospects on the Nightrydas Elite team, which also features five-star class of 2025 prospects Cameron and Cayden Boozer.

Wilson said that move, in part, was based on wanting to show elements of his basketball skill that Pope highlighted with his BYU teams.

“Something that influenced my decision to come play with Nightrydas is how much catch-and-shoot and wide-open looks they get, and playing off the catch,” said Wilson, who visited UK for Big Blue Madness last fall and now lists Arkansas, Auburn and Tennessee among the programs most involved in his recruitment.

“That’s something I really wanted to work on. I feel like I’ve had time to develop my on-ball skills and I enjoy doing that, but I feel like I want to work on all aspects of my game.”

Perhaps not coincidentally, Pope and the Kentucky coaching staff had a front-row seat to Nightrydas’ games throughout last weekend in Indiana.

What are top basketball recruits saying about Mark Pope’s style of play?

Another player who is intrigued to see what the Wildcats look like with Pope running the show is former Kentucky high school star Jasper Johnson, who is one of the Wildcats’ top guard targets in the 2025 recruiting class.

“(Pope) coming in, first year, he has high expectations, but. ... They’re building up a good roster right now, so I’ll be interested to see what he does with the team this season,” said Johnson, who has made significant strides in his off-ball offensive game since moving from Woodford County to Missouri-based Link Academy.

“... I know he’ll have a big difference being in the SEC. ... But I feel like (UK will) have a good season this season.”

BYU’s offensive approach — which resulted in KenPom ranking the Cougars 14th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency last season — was also cited by incoming UK freshman Travis Perry, the 2024 Kentucky Mr. Basketball at Lyon County.

“They definitely play a fun brand of basketball, a fun style of basketball,” Perry said on the day of Pope’s Rupp Arena introduction. “They play together, they play for each other and that’s something that you can kind of see by listening to him today. That he really embodies about the betterment of the team and, obviously, they shoot a lot of 3s. That’s something that’s really intriguing to me.”

Obviously, that style of play was encouraging enough to Perry that he opted to follow through on his UK commitment despite an offseason coaching change from John Calipari to Pope. Perry is one of three incoming freshmen (along with former BYU signee Collin Chandler and former South Carolina signee Trent Noah) lined up for the 2024-25 Kentucky team.

Another rising recruit who gave a first-hand account of what Pope did at BYU is four-star power forward Chris Nwuli, a class of 2025 prospect who played last season at Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah.

Wasatch is located about an hour south of Provo, where BYU is, and Nwuli has watched the Cougars play in their home gym.

“I used to go to (BYU) games. ... So I used to watch them all the time. I love the way (Pope) coaches and all of that,” said Nwuli, who added that he’s familiar with BYU’s style of play under Pope.

Soon enough, the focus will shift from next season’s UK team to how Pope’s style of play resonates with high school recruits as they make their college decisions.

“Mark Pope’s offense will bring a new innovative approach to the SEC,” Evan Miyakawa, a college basketball analyst and statistician, previously told the Herald-Leader. “If we make the safe assumption that he will have a better cast of characters at UK than at BYU, I’m very excited to see what he can do.”

Herald-Leader Staff Writer John Clay contributed to this article.

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