Mark Pope Strikes Again as 5-Star Ryan Hampton Commits to Kentucky
The 2025–26 season didn’t quite go as planned for the Kentucky Wildcats.
Head coach Mark Pope entered the year with what was being called the most expensive roster in college basketball history, a reported $22 million payroll, and a preseason No. 9 ranking.
Big Blue Nation was expecting a championship run. What they got instead was a rocky, injury-disrupted 22–14 campaign, a 10–8 finish in SEC play, and a gut-punch second-round NCAA Tournament exit at the hands of Iowa State.
The hot seat talk got loud for Pope, and questions about whether he could actually build and sustain a Kentucky-caliber program started getting serious.
Now, Pope may have delivered the loudest statement of the offseason.
Five-star shooting guard Ryan Hampton, the No. 6 overall recruit in the 2027 class, has committed to Kentucky following an official visit to Lexington from June 5–7.
The 6-foot-6 wing from DME Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida, chose the Wildcats over other top programs, including SMU, Nebraska, NC State, LSU, and a long list of high-major suitors.
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Hampton is a 6-foot-6, 190-pound shooting guard from Rockwall, Texas, and the younger brother of RJ Hampton, the 24th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
On the Nike EYBL circuit in the summer of 2025, Hampton averaged 26.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game at the U16 level, shooting a stunning 61.4% from the field and 54.5% from three.
At EYBL Kansas City more recently, he averaged 21.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, leading his Nightrydas squad to a perfect 4–0 record.
He is widely considered a future lottery pick.
And he’s not the only big name Pope has landed this offseason.
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Just days ago, Kentucky secured Milan Momcilovic, the No. 1 player in the transfer portal and the nation’s best three-point shooter last season.
The 6-foot-8 Iowa State forward averaged 16.9 points per game and shot 48.7% from deep, which led the NCAA, finishing fifth nationally in threes made (136) while ranking just 46th in attempts.
He signed for a reported $6 million-plus NIL deal, one of the highest in college basketball.
Kentucky also added transfers Alex Wilkins (Furman), Zoom Diallo (Washington), Justin McBride (JMU), Jerone Morton (Washington State), and Franck Kepnang (Washington), while retaining center Malachi Moreno, who recently pulled his name from the NBA Draft.
Pope now enters year three with arguably his best team yet and a legitimate shot at a deep March run.
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This story was originally published June 7, 2026 at 8:24 PM.