Mark Pope is starting from scratch. Literally. Following the news that another freshman would be entering the transfer portal on Friday, Kentucky will not have any returning players next season.
Reserve wing Jordan Burks was the final straw. It was announced on Friday that he would be leaving Kentucky after just one season and be entering the transfer portal.
Burks averaged 1.9 points in 20 appearances last season. He averaged just 7.1 mintues a game.
Before Burks came to Kentucky, he was a borderline four-star recruit at Hillcrest Prep (Az) and Overtime Elite (Ga).
Burks joins fellow freshmen DJ Wagner, Aaron Bradshaw, Joey Hart and Zvonimir Ivisic who all entered the transfer portal. Freshmen Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham and Justin Edwards all entered the NBA Draft. Sophomore Ugonna Onyenso is also entering his name in the NBA Draft.
There is still a chance sophomore wing Adou Thiero returns, as he included Kentucky in his final five schools earlier on Friday.
Burks was originally committed to Ole Miss when he flipped to Kentucky.
“I’ve always been big on Kentucky because of the atmosphere and the culture,” Burks said when he signed with Kentucky.
“I’ve been watching since I was a kid and seeing all of the players develop and progress into pros and compete for titles every year made this a place I wanted to play at.”
Mark Pope has two commits coming in. Four-star guards Travis Perry, who was committed to John Calipari but decided to stay on board, and former BYU commit Collin Chandler, who was part of the 2022 class before taking a two-year mission trip.
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