One of the initial concerns with Kentucky’s hiring of Mark Pope as their new basketball coach was his limited experience in recruiting elite college basketball talent. This was partly due to the unique recruiting environments at his previous head coaching positions at Utah Valley and BYU, where he didn’t have access to the extensive recruiting cachet or resources that a program like Kentucky offers. However, Pope has swiftly dispelled any doubts about his recruiting prowess with the Wildcats, starting with one standout prospect.
In the first major recruiting period last month, Pope, along with associate head coach Alvin Brooks III and assistant coaches Cody Fueger and Jason Hart, scouted top talent across the country. The highest concentration of talent that May weekend was at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League event in Indiana, where five-star class of 2025 power forward Tounde Yessoufou emerged as a key target for Kentucky.
Last week, Kentucky’s coaching staff made a significant presence at another major recruiting event — the NBPA Top 100 Camp at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida — for a closer look at some of the nation’s top high school recruits, including Yessoufou. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound power forward stood out at the NBPA Top 100 Camp, averaging the second-highest scoring rate (23.1 points per game) among participants. He also recorded 8.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, ranking among the event’s top performers, and was named one of the camp’s all-star players.
“I bring energy to the court every time I play,” Yessoufou said during the camp. “I feel like I impact the game, get the other team in foul trouble, and make things happen.” Ranked as the No. 20 overall player in the 2025 class by the 247Sports Composite, Yessoufou’s impressive performances have garnered interest from major programs including Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, and UCLA. Besides his strong showing at the NBPA Top 100 Camp, Yessoufou has been a consistent force on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League circuit this spring, playing for California’s Team WhyNot.