Kentucky Basketball’s offseason shakeup continued Tuesday night with news that assistant Jason Hart was leaving the program to join the SMU Mustangs coaching staff. KSR’s Jacob Polacheck broke the news first
.Hart, who came to Kentucky as part of Mark Pope’s first coaching staff in Lexington, was working on a two-year contract that will expire this summer. That’s the case with three other assistant coaches, so it’s safe to think we’re about to see a major shakeup following a 14-loss season.
The move
to SMU will be a reunion for Hart, who previously worked under current Mustangs head coach Andy Endfield when the two were at USC from 2013-21. Hart also previously served as the head coach of the NBA G League Ignite.
Hart was expected to bring some major high school recruiting power to Kentucky when he first came aboard. He’s the lead recruiter for No. 1 overall recruit Tyran Stokes, but Stokes is widely expected to end up at Kansas, and Kentucky has had little success recruiting the high school ranks. The Wildcats currently do not have a commitment in the class of 2026.
A crucial offseason is now underway for Pope and Co. to get Kentucky Basketball back to competing at the sport’s highest level.
