Mark Pope on return of Kentucky-Indiana basketball rivalry
Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope said “I love everything about” the Kentucky-Indiana basketball rivalry returning for the 2025-26 NCAA season.
One of the top guards in the 2025 men’s college basketball recruiting class has traded one group of wildcats for another.
Acaden Lewis, a four-star guard who had previously signed with Kentucky, has committed to Villanova, he told ESPN Thursday.
The 6-foot-2 Lewis is rated by 247Sports’ Composite ranking as the No. 29 prospect nationally and the No. 5 point guard in the 2025 recruiting class. Prior to Thursday, he was the highest-ranked player not currently committed to or signed with a school.
He becomes the third member of Villanova’s 2025 recruiting class, all of whom have committed to the Wildcats since new coach Kevin Willard was hired. Lewis is the highest-rated player of that group and is Villanova’s first top-30 commitment in three years.
Prior to his commitment, Lewis had also taken visits to St. John’s, Georgia and Miami over the past two weeks.
“The staff I ultimately had the most trust in was Nova,” Lewis said to ESPN. “We built a relationship since my sophomore year, when I first transferred to Sidwell (Friends School in Washington, D.C.). Kevin Willard and his staff were among the first high-major coaches to recruit me at Maryland. I have built a great relationship with them and have immense trust that I will thrive and they will let me be me.”
Lewis had previously committed to Kentucky and coach Mark Pope last November and signed with the Wildcats 12 days later. He decommitted from Kentucky on April 10, five days after the Wildcats landed a commitment from Pitt transfer point guard Jaland Lowe.
Villanova, which won two national championships and made three Final Fours between 2016-22, has turned to Willard, who most recently guided Maryland to the Sweet 16, to get the program back to national relevance. Kyle Neptune, who succeeded Jay Wright after the legendary coach retired in 2022, went just 54-47 in three years before being fired in March after his final Wildcats team went 19-14 and failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for a third-consecutive season.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
