Mark Pope’s NBA experience could help Kentucky recruit a former teammate’s son
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball is recruiting class of 2027 point guard Reese Alston.
- Alston is a five-star recruit and is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 8 prospect in 2027.
- Alston is a son of Rafer Alston, who played in the NBA with Mark Pope.
Mark Pope’s past NBA playing experience could give his UK basketball program a leg up with one prospect in the 2027 recruiting class.
Kentucky has a scholarship offer out to Reese Alston, a five-star point guard and son of former NBA player and streetball legend Rafer “Skip 2 My Lou” Alston.
Rafer played in 671 games across an 11-year NBA career, which included crossover with Pope’s professional playing days. Rafer and Pope were teammates on the Milwaukee Bucks for two seasons from 2000-02.
In an interview with the Herald-Leader at a USA Basketball junior national team minicamp in Indiana, Reese said his father has told him about some of Pope’s qualities.
“Just that he’s a great and a real guy, honest guy,” Reese said of Pope. “So I know whatever he tells me, whatever he’s saying to me, I know that it’s true and it’ll happen. Definitely a great guy.”
Reese — a 6-foot-2 floor general who plays prep basketball at Second Baptist School in Houston — already has plenty of college suitors as one of the top high school juniors in the country. He’s ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect in the 2027 class by 247Sports.
Plenty of focus remains on UK’s high school recruiting efforts with the 2026 class as Kentucky resets its roster this offseason. So far, Pope’s program only has a pledge from four-star point guard Mason Williams, whose father, former NBA All-Star Mo Williams, is joining Pope’s coaching staff.
The Cats are also still in the mix for Tyran Stokes, the top prospect in the 2026 class.
But the 2027 recruiting group will be here before you know it. Earlier this week, Pope and two assistant coaches, Cody Fueger and Mikhail McLean, made an in-home visit to five-star class of 2027 center Obinna Ekezie Jr.
Ekezie and Reese are two of the seven players in the 2027 recruiting class whom Kentucky basketball has extended a scholarship offer to.
“I feel like I’m a great point guard,” Reese said. “I feel like I’m a leader on the court. I feel like I play well in transition, get my teammates open. I feel like I’m just a winner. I feel like I have a résumé to show that, but I feel like I have a lot of great wins and just leading my team to wins, I feel like, is really what I do best.”
Plenty of scholarship offers have arrived along with Reese’s lofty ranking. The likes of Houston, Louisville and Purdue are among the schools that have offered him. Reese has already taken recruiting trips to check out the Cardinals and Boilermakers, as well as Wichita State.
So, Kentucky will need all the advantages it can get to try and convince Reese to join the Cats. And that past connection between Pope and Rafer could prove helpful.
“Definitely a great school with a great history,” Reese said of Kentucky while describing Pope as a “great coach.”
“I like the school, SEC. Just big-time players that went to Kentucky. I just like the school.”
Reese credited his father — who only played one season at the NCAA Division I level at Fresno State — with several developments in his own basketball profile. Reese said his father has been his coach and trainer for several years.
“I learned a lot of stuff from his game,” Reese said. “Pick-and-rolls. Jump shots. All that type of stuff.”
For Reese, he’s been able to use his position as the son of a former NBA player and legendary streetball figure to his advantage.
“I feel like it’s just a blessing,” Reese said. “Having my dad that was in the same position as me, been to the NBA. I mean, I can learn from him anytime I want. ... It’s a little bit of pressure, but I don’t see it as pressure. I just see it as a great blessing that I have.”
Despite only playing one season of Division-I college ball — and spending that year in the Western Athletic Conference playing for a school that didn’t reach the NCAA Tournament — Rafer was a second-round pick in the 1998 NBA draft. Reese has leaned on the experience and pedigree of his father during the early stages of his own basketball journey.
Will that journey wind through Lexington?
Only time will tell.
Reese said things like a program’s culture and style of play, as well as his relationship with its coaches, will be some of the biggest factors when it comes time to make his college decision.
“I feel like just a coach with a great background and a great history, and a school with a great background and great history,” Reese said. “I feel like a coach that has put guys in the NBA. A coach that’s honest with his players. Definitely just a great school that I feel comfortable with and that I like.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2026 at 7:00 AM.
