“He’s dying to get better every single day”: Mark Pope heaps praise for newest Kentucky signee Braydon Hawthorne
Mark Pope is ready to enter his second season at Kentucky and has added another player to his roster, West Virginia recruit Braydon Hawthorne. Pope's 2025-26 squad was already deep, but in his first opportunity to comment on the player, Pope had plenty to add on the newest Wildcat.
"Braydon Hawthorne probabkly has the steepest trajectory of anybody in the class of 2025," Pope said. ... "I love the fact that he wants to come and compete and that he's dying to get better every single day."
Hawthorne is a 6-foot-8 forward from Huntington, West Virginia, just across the state line from Kentucky. A late reclassifier from the class of 2026, Hawthorne is a four-star recruit and is ranked as the No. 33 overall player in the Class of 2025 by 247Sports.
Hawthorne visited Kentucky in a whirlwind recruiting tour on April 16. He also visited Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Duke. Pope and the Wildcats are adding another weapon to a loaded squad.
Kentucky's roster construction
Braydon Hawthorne is in the company of three other pre-college signees. Kentucky had previously signed Kentucky native Jasper Johnson and in-state prospect Malachi Moreno, who were McDonald's All-Americans. Johnson was the No. 24-ranked prospect in the class, and Moreno was 27th. International signee Andrija Jelavic of Croatia is also potentially a significant signee.
Pope has also been incredibly active in the transfer portal. Kentucky has added Arizona State standout Jayden Quaintance, who averaged 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Quaintance was a five-star recruit out of high school who had committed to Kentucky before John Calipari left the school.
Among the other additions are Pitt guard Jaland Lowe, who just withdrew his name from the NBA draft. Lowe averaged 16.8 points per game last year for Pittsburgh.
The Wildcats also added a pair of SEC standouts. Denzel Aberdeen was a key component on Florida's national title team. He averaged 7.7 points per game and likely would have assumed a starting spot for the Gators, but he came to Kentucky.
Alabama's Mouhamed Dioubate has likewise come on board. He averaged 7.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for the Tide and should be an intense low-post presence for the Wildcats. Tulane freshman wing Kam Williams and Miami of Ohio 7-foot-1 center Reece Potter round out an impressive portal class.
Pope is also returning contributors Brandon Garrison (5.9 ppg, 3.9 rpg), Collin Chandler (2.7 ppg) and Trent Noah (2.7 ppg). The last piece is guard Otega Oweh (16.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg), who is expected to remove himself from the NBA draft and announce his return to Kentucky.
However, while Hawthorne is the last addition to the squad, Mark Pope's comments betray a significant amount of excitement surrounding the new freshman. Kentucky fans are likely to share that excitement.
What do you think of Pope's comments on Hawthorne? Share your take below in our comments section!