Reed Sheppard to Trent Noah to Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno to Tay Kinney? Mark Pope is pushing to keep the in-state pipeline strong for the Kentucky Wildcats — and the top-20 prospect out of Newport isn’t a bad place to start.
Kinney, ranked No. 16 overall and No. 3 among point guards by On3, just wrapped up an official visit to Lexington where he was joined by friends and family. There, he got to rock the blue and white threads for the very first time — those close to him getting special No. 6 and No. 7 jerseys in a nod to Mr. 6-7 himself while TK wore No. 1.
Talk about NIL potential as a Wildcat.
Mark Pope joined in on the photoshoot with Kinney all smiles in every shot. Take a look at the five-star guard born to rock Kentucky blue:
Kinney told KSR at USA U19 Training Camp in Colorado Springs last week Kentucky, Louisville, Texas, Arkansas, Indiana and Oregon were the schools pushing hardest for him at this stage with a list cut down to six coming soon. He’s scheduled to see the Ducks in Eugene on September 6 with the Razorbacks, Hoosiers and Longhorns also expected to receive dates. He previously saw Purdue in January and the Cardinals in June.
As for the Wildcats specifically, he grew up around Kentucky fans with the blue and white regularly on TV around the house. “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.”
There is a pull to Louisville, too, with several family members repping the Cardinals and Kinney developing a “great relationship” with Pat Kelsey and the UofL staff. As for a decision timeline, he tells KSR he would “like to commit before the season.”
“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.” Could he follow his former high school teammate and close friend, Jasper Johnson, to Kentucky?
“It don’t really impact me — I just want to see him succeed. I’m just gonna see how he does this year, maybe follow him? I don’t know yet,” he said. Kinney certainly looks comfortable in Kentucky blue.
