You hate to see it… or maybe not. The Kentucky Wildcats have missed on another top target, this time Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 player in the 2026 class. He was seen as a player who was starting to trend Kentucky's way, but Kansas and Bill Self came in and got it done, stealing the 6-foot-7 forward right from Mark Pope. This isn't the first time the Wildcats have lost a recruit this cycle, in fact, that's the trend in Lexington these days.
Vols freshman Nate Ament solidifies lottery buzz in latest ESPN mock draft
From a Tennessee standpoint, the struggles of Kentucky have honestly been pretty hilarious to watch. Plus, the Vols have been rolling on the recruiting trail, too, adding one of the best portal classes in the nation with the potential to add Juke Harris from Wake Forest, someone who averaged north of 20 points last season. Meanwhile, Kentucky doesn't have a single power conference transfer, and its only high school commit is ranked No. 109 in the 247Sports composite. Yikes.
The ebst part is the fact that, Kentucky kicked Coach Cal out of town just to hire Mark Pope, who cannot get the job done. It felt like nearly every five-star took a visit to Kentucky, and they failed to commit. Meanwhile, down in Fayetteville, Coach Cal is rolling in recruits and wins, while Kentucky stays mediocre.
Unforeseen times in Lexington 👀 pic.twitter.com/s5GQ7Na1Wq
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) April 29, 2026
Tennessee thrives while Kentucky dives
The funniest part is that Kentucky barely survived Santa Clara in Round 1 of March Madness, needing a miracle shot to escape a game they should’ve controlled, given they have a roster budget of 30 times more than Santa Clara. Then they got run off the floor by Iowa State in Round 2, while Tennessee handled that same Iowa State team in the Sweet 16.
Kentucky didn’t even make ESPN’s top 25 in their latest way-too-early rankings, while Tennessee sits at No. 11 and could climb even higher with Harris potentially coming in. Rick Barnes has done a great job rebuilding the roster this offseason, while things haven’t been nearly as smooth in Lexington.
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