Nikola Kusturica

[South jones]

The Cats are pursuing this 6'8" SHOOTING GUARD OUT OF Serbia. Avg 20 pts and 8 reb.
he is only 17 and considered the #1 SHOOTING guard in the 2028 draft.

This would be a tremendous get if Pope can pull it off.
I say get this guy and let the minutes take care of its self
who knew we had any money left. Lol
.Duke, N car, UCLA, UL ALONG WITH OTHERS ARE AFTER THIS GUY


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[Matt Dillon]

This will be a tough get considering who's interested. I guess it will come down to who's interested the most.

[Pete Hogwallop]

Who knew those other teams had money left? Especially Louisville. Aren't they broke?

[South jones]

Gonzaga is considered the favorite

[Pobilly]

I think boosters and Pope are all in to get the best they can get now. It would not be a big stretch to put 3 mil or so on this guy. Will others be willing to do so?'

If UK is pushing, how hard are they pushing. They have a team to go fairly far (with some luck just like any team). If we get another scorer then who know what can happen. We could see Hawthorne B. not get any minutes again this year with this guy. It would mean we have 3 or 4 PG if one gets hurt, we would have 3 or 4 shooting guards,, 3 or 4 PF and 3 or 4 bigs. It would be about a perfect roster for Pope.

[South jones]

There are some pod casters calling this guy an impact player and could push the Cats solidly into top 10 status. Everyone I'm reading are really really high on him.
Pope is facing a lot of big time competition recruiting him.

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[Pobilly]

What Pope has now in his pocket is his roster. UK has a college superstar, UK has 2 legit bigs, 2 legit pg and some very good options at the PF. If Pope actually has the financial backing, he should be able to present this to the guy. Duke can probably do the same (but do they still have enough to get in a bidding war), UNC does not and not some of the others. UofL has a roster like ours but maybe not as deep but might be a step ahead on starters. I hope UK would appear to be option 1 for the guy. Probably not but someone has to layout a plan for the player on the team (Pope), someone needs to show what he is worth $$$$$$ and finally someone needs to point out what his signing can do to get that team to be a viable option as a contender. If you present this like a proposal for a network or proposal for security detail and package it with the best offer, you should be able to land a guy. But we all know it is not cut and dry, black and white like I discuss here. So waiting to see is all we have.

[Matt Dillon]

It appears UK may be gaining ground.

Kentucky basketball gets recruiting prediction to land Nikola Kusturica

[Pobilly]

This would be a huge get for Pope. You get him here and who knows our ceiling. Will be interesting. Our floor will be much higher.

[South jones]

Travis branam is now predicting UK

[Pete Hogwallop]

We land him and it will be amazing to look back and reflect on all the wasted worry, anger, etc. in April and May. I don't know how Pope kept his mouth shut during all that talk of him being a disaster.

[NCCat]

All-around player with size. There are a lot of 'ifs' (aka if Wilkins translates to the SEC, if Moreno improves, etc....the normal questions) with this team as constructed right now but the pieces make sense. I was still a little concerned about impactful guard depth. This guy would solve that and then some. I like the addition of Morton as a Dominique Hawkins type role and I'm interested to see what Mason Williams can develop into but feel this current team needed one more guy that can handle and defend back there. Doesn't hurt he's like 6'8-6'9 and can play all over!

[Pobilly]

https://www.on3.com/teams/kentucky-w...ola-kusturica/

Yeah there is tons of smoke about this. Hope Pope gets this wrapped up in a few days. Would be good to know for sure.

[bucsrule8872]

Lots of debate about his impact.

One of the guys for Sleepers Media thinks he slides in to the 3 spot (with Momcilovic at the 4) and makes us a top 5 team. The other guy is a little more skeptical. Both agree he would be a huge get, just one of them is higher on his immediate impact. Kid just turned 17, hard to imagine him being a superstar in Year One.

Still he is projected as a top 3 draft pick in ‘28.

At worst he is another option on the wing.

At best he is a game-changer on the wing.

We have four locks to start, IMHO: Momcilovic, Moreno, Diallo, and Wilkins. The fifth spot will be between Kam, N’Diaye, McBride, and Hawthorne. If this guy comes in, he will be in the mix and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him grab that fifth starter spot.

G Diallo(6’4 JR)
G Wilkins(6’5 SO)
F Kusturica(6’9 FR)
F Momcilovic(6’8 SR)
C Moreno(7’0 SO)

And with a excellent second unit:

G Morton(6’4 SR)
G K. Williams(6’8 JR)
F McBride(6’8 SR)
F N’Diaye(6’11 FR)
C Kepnang(6’11 SR)

Plus Hawthorne could break out and steal a spot in the rotation.

Exciting possibilities.

[Pobilly]

Nik Costa Rica will probably start out as the 6th man since he will be here later than all the other players. I would guess he would not get here till August since he is participating in World Cup late June early July.

By SEC he might be starting. Or if some of the guys that think really high on the guy is right, UK will start him, UK will win every game by 40 and go undefeated. It will be somewhere in between and closer to the temper expectations to start the season.