The Kentucky men’s basketball team’s offseason has been equal parts turbulent and expensive. But after adding yet another proven high-major star in former Missouri forward Mark Mitchell, it’s hard to argue with the end product coach Mark Pope and his staff have put together in Lexington.
Mitchell, a second-team All-SEC selection a season ago who led the Tigers to the NCAA tournament, is arguably the best player to have returned to college basketball in the wake of the onslaught of litigation surrounding the NCAA’s age-based eligibility rollout. He officially became eligible Friday after receiving a temporary restraining order in Kentucky, an order issued just hours after the federal injunction that was granting widespread relief to fifth-year players was stayed by an appeals court. There are still a few hurdles that could prevent Mitchell from getting on the floor, most notably the SEC’s intraconference transfer rules that prohibit players from transferring within the league outside of official transfer portal windows, but most signs point to Mitchell suiting up his fall.
