Days after Tyran Stokes’ visit, Mark Pope’s Kentucky welcomes top 5-star prospect [IN PICS]

Kentucky Wildcats hosted Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2026 (as per On3’s Industry Rankings) on June 8. The 6-foot-7 small forward from Louisville, Kentucky, also posed in the Kentucky jersey during his visit for a photoshoot.However, coach Mark Pope continues hosting top talents as the Wildcats welcomed Overtime Elite’s Taylen Kinney on Wednesday. Kentucky Sports Radio shared pictures from Kinney’s official visit on X (formerly Twitter).Days after Tyran Stokes’ visit, Mark Pope’s Kentucky welcomes top 5-star prospect (Image via X @KSRonX)Image via X @KSRonXImage via X @KSRonXImage via X @KSRonX”Tay Kinney (@Taylen_0) rocks Kentucky blue for the first time — how does he look, #BBN? 😼💙The 5-star guard just wrapped up an official visit to Lexington,” the post read.It was Kinney’s first official visit to Kentucky. Before this, the 6-foot-2 point guard had five unofficial visits, including a coach visit on Apr. 23. He also took an official visit to the Louisville Cardinals on Jun. 5 and is scheduled to take an official visit to the Oregon Ducks on Sep. 6.Kinney, who ranks 16th nationally, third in the point guard position and first in Georgia, has received offers from over 20 programs, including Ohio State Buckeyes, Arkansas Razorbacks, Louisville, Purdue Boilermakers and Oregon Ducks.Kinney talked about his family being Kentucky fans, in a conversation with On3.“It’s lit, they had Kentucky on fire, you know?” Kinney said of his memories of the Wildcats growing up. “Most of my family, they’re Kentucky fans. … (My relationship with Pope and the UK staff) has definitely grown over the weeks, months.”He also talked about the kind of program he wants to play in.“It’s going to be where I’m most comfortable,” Kinney said. “It’s where I feel I can go in there and they put the ball in my hands as a freshman and I’m able to go out and perform my best to get to the next level.”Louisville leads the race to sign Tyran StokesTyran Stokes made it to the 18-member roster that would represent Team USA at the U19 World Cup in Switzerland, before he starts his senior year at Notre Dame.The 6-foot-7 small forward has plenty of programs to choose from. However, according to On3’s recruitment prediction machine, the Cardinals lead the race to land Stokes with a 32.6% chance, followed by Kentucky with a 28.5% probability and Kansas with a 24.4% prediction. Tyran Stokes still has another year to decide on his collegiate career.

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