Mark Pope will travel to Israel to meet with recruit, per report
Published:
One day after missing out on 5-star forward Tyran Stokes, Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is back out on the recruiting trail.
According to a report from KSR’s Jacob Polacheck, Pope is flying to Israel on Wednesday to meet with center Márcio Santos about joining the Wildcats for the upcoming season.
Santos is 23 years old and is listed at 6-foot-9. The Brazilian played for Maccabi Tel Aviv this past season and performed well both in their domestic league and in EuroLeague.
In 37 EuroLeague contests, Santos averaged about 7 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in 14 minutes per night. He showed off good touch at the free throw line (80.4%) and from beyond the arc (40%) in EuroLeague last season. For his career in Europe, he’s a 34% 3-point shooter.
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One potential issue was his inability to stay out of foul trouble. In EuroLeague last season, Santos averaged 3.2 fouls per game despite his modest role of 14 minutes per contest.
If Kentucky is able to bring in Santos, he would likely join the program as a backup center behind Malachi Moreno, who had a strong freshman season in 2025-26.
Pope and his staff are expected to make multiple transfer additions in the coming weeks.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
