Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope reacts to March Madness loss
Following a 78-65 loss to Tennessee in the 2025 NCAA men’s basketball March Madness tournament, Kentucky coach Mark Pope expressed pride for his players. “We’ll be talking about these guys 10 years from now,” Pope.
LEXINGTON — After a better-than-expected 2024-25 season in Year 1 leading the Kentucky basketball program, coach Mark Pope notched another victory Tuesday. Only this time, it was on the recruiting trail, not the court.
The Wildcats’ latest recruiting-world win happened Tuesday, as four-star 2025 forward Braydon Hawthorne committed to Pope’s program. Hawthorne picked UK over his four other finalists: fellow blue-blood Duke, ACC schools Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech and Big 12 representative West Virginia.
Hawthorne joins a pair of Kentuckians — guard Jasper Johnson and center Malachi Moreno — along with international forward Andrija Jelavic as commitments for the Wildcats’ 2025 class.
This story will be updated.
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