Kentucky has offered the son of a former Mark Pope rival
· Yahoo Sports
The 1996 NCAA Tournament saw the Kentucky Wildcats and Mark Pope roll to a national championship, marking them as one of the greatest teams of all time. Another SEC team made the Final Four that season as well, though. Mississippi State made a run as a five-seed, led by center Erick Dampier. Fast forward 30 years, and Pope and Dampier are connected once again as Pope, now the coach at Kentucky, has offered Erick Dampier Jr. a scholarship.
The younger Dampier is a 6'10", 230 lb center out of Mississippi. He is rated five stars by 247Sports and ranks as their No. 8 overall player in the 2028 recruiting class. The offer comes almost a full year after first contacting him.
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With the opening of the contact period, Dampier, along with other recruits, began to hear from various schools. Pope personally called Dampier with the offer from Kentucky. He was reportedly very happy to hear from them. He spoke to Kentucky Sports Radio and told them, "I was excited."
As a member of the 2028 class, Dampier won't be making a decision soon, but establishing an early connection can be key to landing top players. He also heard from schools like Louisville, Florida State, and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky basketball offers 2028 center Erick Dampier Jr.