Pope Has Eleven Players. Here Are the Two Specific Names That Make This a Contender.

Set the Stokes news aside for a possession. The roster as it stands today has a clear archetype shape: two real point guards (Diallo, Mason Williams), three off-guards (Wilkins, Kam Williams, Zyon Hawthorne), three combo wings (Trent Noah, Braydon Hawthorne, McBride), two stretch fours (McBride, N'Diaye), and two centers (Moreno, Potter). Pope's motion offense lives on three things: thirty 3-point attempts a night, switchable defenders one-through-four, and one veteran who can take a bad late-clock possession and turn it into a make. The roster has the size. It has the spacing potential. What it does NOT have, according to On3's Pete Nakos, SI's Kentucky beat, and our own film review against last year's Sweet Sixteen team that started Lamont Butler, Koby Brea, and Jaxson Robinson — is a proven 18-points-per-game perimeter scorer and a 40-percent volume shooter on the bench. Otega Oweh carried 18.6 points a night in 2025-26. Brea hit 43.5 percent from three the year before that. Right now, the closest equivalent is Alex Wilkins — a freshman who scored 17.8 a night in the Southern Conference. That's a reasonable bet, not a sure thing. Three names are still on the board with the portal closed but commitments still possible. They are, in priority order: Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State, 6-foot-8, 220 pounds. Sixteen-point-nine and three-point-one in the Big 12, 48.7 percent from three on 136 makes — which led the entire country. He's currently testing the NBA Draft on a do-not-contact tag. The May 27 withdrawal deadline is the window. Pope built the BYU offense around exactly this archetype. If UK can put real NIL on the table and convince him a one-year college rental beats a likely second-round pick, this team's ceiling jumps from 'good' to 'Final Four contender.' Per the Athletic and KSR+, UK is one of three publicly-known programs in his recruitment. Paul McNeil Jr., NC State, 6-foot-5, 190. Thirteen-point-eight a night, 42.7 percent from three on 105 makes — which is a school record. Two years of eligibility. He is, per multiple On3 reports, the most attainable elite shooter still available in the portal pool. NC State is fighting to retain him and UNC is trying to poach. UK has him on the public shortlist. Outbidding Wolfpack NIL is doable. McNeil at SG with Wilkins moving to backup wing solves the bench-shooter problem and gives Pope a true 36-percent-or-better catch-and-shoot release every time the second unit hits the floor. Allen Graves, Santa Clara, 6-foot-9, 225. Eleven-point-eight and six-and-a-half rebounds, 41 percent from three, with a 4.8 percent block rate AND a 4.8 percent steal rate — that combination puts him in the top one percent nationally for two-way forwards. Three years of eligibility. He's in the same NBA-testing limbo as Momcilovic but with a much wider runway if he returns. Duke and LSU are the competition. If Pope hits Graves, the SF/PF rotation goes from 'serviceable' to 'positionally elite.' The path to a contender is narrow but visible. Land Momcilovic OR McNeil for the wing-shooter slot. Add Graves if NIL allows for the multi-year frontcourt insurance. Don't waste a scholarship on a body that doesn't move the needle — three open spots, three specific archetypes. The Stokes story ended Tuesday. The roster story has 29 days left.