2025-26 Roster Chatter (UPDATE: Oweh Returns, Roster Complete)

[George]

Xavier's Dailyn Swain says he will visit Kentucky.

[Joneslab]

Xavier's Dailyn Swain says he will visit Kentucky.

This might be the bouncy, athletic rebounder I've been talking about.

[Catsrock]

Coaching at this level clearly has its advantage$. But man oh man what a job to work the portal every year. Recruiting HS kids you watch who you want to watch for years. The portal fills up with guys you had no idea would be available in an instant and if you drag your feet they’re gone again. You bring some in, Coach them a few months and then decide whether to try to re-recruit them. 🙄

I said a couple weeks ago the coaches still in the tournaments were at a disadvantage. I was assured that was no concern because of the staffs under the head coaches. Coach Pope disagrees. Final call on who he wants bad enough to pay is on him.

[justafan]

Like all business stuff, remember some information or interest could be leverage. UK could be looking at bugs in case Garrison leaves……or as NIL negotiation plan. At least, that’s my take on it. No idea/information.

[George]

Like all business stuff, remember some information or interest could be leverage. UK could be looking at bugs in case Garrison leaves……or as NIL negotiation plan. At least, that’s my take on it. No idea/information.

For sure. Likely what happened with Dedan Thomas and LSU, for example. As more time went on, it became clearer that Thomas was pretty far down Pope's PG list, but Thomas's camp likely leveraged UK's initial inquiry for a bigger payday elsewhere.

[Joneslab]

No idea if this is true, but it’s from a UCLA insider:

Wow. The only thing I would say about this obviously knowing nothing about it is that I don't quite trust Mick Cronin, and wouldn't be surprised if some of that weren't embellished by the Cronin camp to make it look better for UCLA. The desire to just go back to Spain at any time seems suss.

[George]

Wow. The only thing I would say about this obviously knowing nothing about it is that I don't quite trust Mick Cronin, and wouldn't be surprised if some of that weren't embellished by the Cronin camp to make it look better for UCLA. The desire to just go back to Spain at any time seems suss.

Yeah. It reeks of a classic hit piece toward the outgoing player, so I'm not sure how much stock to put into that one.

[George]

"Kentucky and Mgbako are serious."

[teamchemistry15]

"Kentucky and Mgbako are serious."

Who?

[Joneslab]

Who?

Indiana forward.

Decent player, very inconsistent.

Odd thing about him? Almost identical freshman and sophomore years. Didn't improve, didn't regress. Very strange.

[KCKUKFan]

Just told my IU friend this and he laughed at me and said, "good luck."

[George]

I don't know what to make of Mgbako. Was really high on him when he committed to Duke, then he didn't deliver as expected. He transferred to Indiana, but folks seem to think he was a horrible fit in Mike Woodson's offense, hence his lack of development in year two. Conversely, those same folks think he's an excellent fit for Pope's system, though I haven't looked into that, nor am I sharp enough to confirm it even if I did watch enough film.

The size and talent are there, though, so trust the coach, I guess.

EDIT: I think I was wrong. He never played for Duke. Did he commit there, then decommit? Or did he just come close?

[KCKUKFan]

At the tail end of KSR, Ryan lemond says that the entire staff went to visit the Lendenborg kid immediately after the coach's show.

[Joneslab]

I don't know what to make of Mgbako. Was really high on him when he committed to Duke, then he didn't deliver as expected. He transferred to Indiana, but folks seem to think he was a horrible fit in Mike Woodson's offense, hence his lack of development in year two. Conversely, those same folks think he's an excellent fit for Pope's system, though I haven't looked into that, nor am I sharp enough to confirm it even if I did watch enough film.

The size and talent are there, though, so trust the coach, I guess.

My son's friend is an IU fan. Son doesn't like his game a whole lot, and they watched Indiana 5 or 6 times at least this past season.

Had some huge games and had some games where he did literally nothing.

[teamchemistry15]

At the tail end of KSR, Ryan lemond says that the entire staff went to visit the Lendenborg kid immediately after the coach's show.

He definitely seems to be the cream of the crop, so far.