Mark Pope was officially announced as the new head basketball coach at Kentucky on Friday morning. It appeared as though (at least) one of his former players is set to follow him from Provo to Lexington.
The Wildcats are in position to poach a ew BYU Cougars from the transfer portal.
One seemed like a lock until a new development on Saturday evening. They are going to take some work— and probably NIL money.
Aly Khalifa, a former three-star recruit from Australia, averaged about 24 minutes per game in each of the last three years. He scored around eight points per game with 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists during that span.
The 6-foot-11 center played his first two years at Charlotte and last year at BYU.
Although his numbers don’t necessarily jump out off of the page, Khalifa started 26 games for Pope during the 2023/24 season and was a key piece of the puzzle. One of the best passing big men in the country has the ability to knock down shots when called upon.
The Cougars relied on him a lot. The Wildcats may soon do the same.
Khalifa entered the transfer portal on Friday afternoon.
Although it is unclear as to what other schools might be in the mix, his entry included a “do not contact” tag. That usually indicates a destination is already in mind. For Khalifa, that is presumably Kentucky!
UPDATE: Aly Khalifa scheduled a visit to Louisville
The Cardinals, of course, are the Wildcats’ biggest rivals.
Mark Pope could bring multiple BYU players with him to Kentucky.
Dallin Hall also entered the portal on Friday.
Originally a class of 2020 recruit, the 6-foot-4 sophomore officially joining the BYU program in the 2022 after serving a two-year Mormon mission. Hall averaged 9.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game this past year and shot 42.2% from the field and 35.9% from three.
His entry did not include a “do not contact” tag and he had been thinking about a departure from BYU even before his head coach left. With that being said, Pope has more enough NIL money to bring Hall with him if he so chooses.
And then there’s Jaxson Robinson. If BYU’s leading scorer and star player chooses to transfer, it would be hard to imagine that Kentucky is not the favorite to land his commitment. “If” is the key word there.
Pope had a lot of talent in Provo. Combining both rosters could put the Wildcats in a great position to compete for a national title next season.