After a few recruiting domino’s to fall, Kentucky looks to be the team to beat for Koby Brea, the best shooter in the country.
Could Kentucky be close to landing its next transfer — and this time the best shooter in the nation? The short answer is, yes.
Kentucky is in the midst of a terrific recruiting period, landing three commitments in the last four days. Now, with two more transfer targets on campus, the Wildcats are looking to close in on one of the most coveted players and shooters in the nation.
Dayton guard Koby Brea entered the portal earlier this month with one season of eligibility remaining and immediately become the most sought-out prospect. He quickly cut his list to five programs; Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas and UConn.
Brea then scheduled two visits to UConn and Duke. He would only take one visit to UConn and later cancelled his Duke visit. So, all signs pointed to the sharpshooter heading to Storrs.
But, the domino’s started to fall. And now, Kentucky is sitting in the ‘driver’s seat’ to land Brea as he arrives for a visit on Monday night.
“Now, the intriguing part here is w/ Koby Brea, who previously put out a finalist list of Duke/UConn/Kansas/UNC/Kentucky,” CBS Sports’ national insider Matt Norlander wrote in a tweet. “With the other four no longer recruiting Brea, Kentucky is absolutely in the driver’s seat and lined up to land the highly coveted 3-point specialist.”
One of those domino’s was when Aidan Mahaney, also a Kentucky target, announced his commitment to the Huskies 72 hours after the commitment of 2024 five-star wing LIam McNeeley. Both moves eliminated UConn from the Brea sweapstakes.
Brea played 29.1 minutes a game while averaging 11.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists this season and shot 49.8 percent from three — the best in the country. He made three 3s a game and hit 100 for the season.
As a junior, Brea shot 37 percent from three and hit 50 3s. He averaged 6.8 points in 26.5 minutes per game.
Brea shot 42.3 percent and hit 63 3s in 21.7 mintues per game as a sophomore. He averaged 8.1 points per game.
While Kentucky is still heavily involved with a handful of prospects, a commitment from Brea and his shooting ability would immeditley give Kentucky an entirely different form of expectations.
Nothing is a done deal in today’s world, but you have to love where you’re sitting if you’re Mark Pope.