Kentucky Basketball continues to keep its options open when it comes to filling that 15th roster spot. While Missouri forward Mark Mitchell has gotten most of the attention, Kentucky is also in serious pursuit of Michigan State forward Jaxon Kohler.
According to KSR’s Jack Pilgrim, Kentucky had a 2.5-hour Zoom meeting with Kohler on Wednesday. While the visit reportedly went well, Kohler will now meet with BYU to cap off the day. The Cougars have been the presumed favorites for the Utah native, but
Kentucky isn’t throwing in the towel on him just yet.
While Mitchell appears to be the likelier of the two to eventually pick Kentucky, there’s a clearer path toward having Kohler eligible for the duration of the 2026-27 season. That’s because Kohler has already won the lawsuits needed to get a fifth year of eligibility and gain entry into the transfer portal.
So for now, Kohler can theoretically commit to the Wildcats, but Mitchell cannot. That could change if Mitchell wins his lawsuit in Kentucky this week to gain entry into the portal, but that has not come as of Wednesday afternoon.
The hope is that the recruitments of Kohler and Mitchell will both be decided this week, so long as the latter gets the ruling he needs, so we may see both players off the board by this weekend.
Will one of them be in favor of Kentucky? That’s the multi-million-dollar question Mark Pope is facing as he enters a pivotal Year 3 in Lexington.
