The Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team is set to hold an open tryout for the 2024-25 season as Year 1 of the Mark Pope era approaches.

John Calipari did not do this often, but Pope is hoping to find someone fun and on campus to fill the end of the bench roster spots.

This is another small aspect that Pope is implementing to create the culture he wants for his program in Lexington.

Some familiar names in Kentucky athletics seemed quite intrigued about the open tryouts…

Football stars Deone Walker and Maxwell Hairston took to social media to make their case for the open tryouts, claiming they would be there to participate.

Hairston went to X and posted, “I will indeed be there.”

Walker went with the classic eyes emoji that clearly shows his interest in being there:

Both guys are set for massive seasons on the football field and were named to preseason All-SEC Teams.

As unlikely as it is, it is always fun to see athletes from other sports interact with the other teams on campus.

When Mark Pope arrived at Lexington, he quickly assembled a roster for the 2024-25 season. He did this mostly using the transfer portal, and that let the new Kentucky coach build a roster full of veteran players.

Justin Wiles of Busting Brackets wrote an article grading the offseason of each SEC team, and he gave Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats an A.

Wiles had this to say about giving Kentucky an offseason grade of A, “When Mark Pope took the Kentucky job back in April, he needed to move quickly to put a roster together. With little to build on, Pope turned to the transfer portal to assemble a roster that could compete in the SEC immediately. And in signing one of the larger transfer classes, Pope quickly rebuilt his roster. Kentucky should have a well-rounded team this upcoming season. Mark Pope did a good job of signing players with different strengths that will complement each other’s play, bringing on good scorers, both inside and out, and a truly great interior defender. Not many schools have that kind of balance.”

Wiles is correct about Coach Pope recruiting a roster that is full of players who will complement one another. He has a ton of guys who can shoot, rebound, defend, pass, and get to the rim. When you have a roster full of players who can do all of these things, it will lead to good things.

Only seven SEC teams earned an A so clearly Wiles was impressed with the offseason Coach Pope had putting together his first Kentucky roster.

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