Kentucky basketball’s offseason coaching change from John Calipari to Mark Pope had a seismic ripple effect on player movement related to the UK program.
Across college basketball, there are 12 former UK players or recruits from last season — the final one of the Calipari coaching era — who are now at new schools.
The Wildcats have already faced off against one of those players this season. Former UK center Aaron Bradshaw had 11 points, two rebounds and two steals on Dec. 21 as his Ohio State squad routed Kentucky by 20 points at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
And on Tuesday night, sixth-ranked UK will face off against another player who was supposed to be in Lexington this season.
Somto Cyril — a 6-foot-11 center who was the first class of 2024 recruit to commit to Calipari and UK — is now at Georgia. Cyril and the Bulldogs will face off against Kentucky in a 7 p.m. Tuesday tipoff at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, which will mark UK’s first road game in SEC play.
Cyril committed to Kentucky in June 2023 out of the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite program, the same outfit that produced ex-Cat Rob Dillingham and where class of 2025 UK signee and Central Kentucky native Jasper Johnson is finishing his prep school career.
Originally from Nigeria, Cyril was ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a four-star recruit in the 2024 recruiting class, and as the No. 45 overall player in that group.
Cyril was the third member of what was a six-player 2024 UK recruiting class for Calipari to decommit from the Cats. Cyril made the choice to reopen his college recruitment shortly after Calipari was introduced as the head coach at Arkansas.
At that time, Cyril said he was still considering Kentucky.
Cyril — who said Calipari spoke to him about his decision to leave UK for Arkansas before that news became official — ultimately stayed in the Peach State and opted to play for head coach Mike White at Georgia.
“I think the biggest thing for him was the timing of everything,” Corey Frazier, who coached Cyril at Overtime Elite, told the Herald-Leader last week. “… I think he handled it really well. Once the staff left to go to Arkansas, it kind of put things in perspective for him. ‘You know what, maybe there’s a better place for me.’”
The Bulldogs are 12-2 overall this season, having lost their first SEC game of the season by 12 points at now-No. 23 Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon.
Entering that league contest, Cyril had settled in nicely to the college game. He averaged 5.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 15.6 minutes coming off the bench for Georgia in nonconference play.
“They had a need, it was a great fit,” Frazier added about Cyril’s choice to commit to Georgia, which also brought in five-star power forward Asa Newell as a headline 2024 recruit.
“The way (Georgia) utilizes their bigs, it just made sense for (Cyril). He knew he could get on the court right away. I think ultimately, the maturity of him handling that was really well done. And to pick Georgia, then to go there and back it up by playing so well and working his way into the rotation has been really good for the kid.”
But, Cyril’s introduction to SEC basketball was a rocky one. In 12 minutes off the bench, Cyril scored one point, grabbed four rebounds, registered a block and committed two turnovers in the Bulldogs’ 63-51 loss at Ole Miss.
“He struggled a little bit defensively,” White — the third-year Georgia coach who previously led Florida for seven seasons — said Saturday about Cyril after the defeat.
“… Sometimes with our frontcourt it’s not as much about the guy that didn’t play as much as maybe other people thought he should have or could have played. It’s about trying to get someone else in when you’re kind of searching a little bit.”
In total, though, Cyril has still had a strong start to his college career overall. He has scored in double figures for Georgia on four occasions, including twice in his last five games.
Cyril had his first college double-double on Dec. 19 against Buffalo (10 points and 11 rebounds, along with five blocks).
“I think the biggest thing is the system,” added Frazier, Cyril’s Overtime Elite coach. “Being able to play in ball screens and get in short rolls and be a rim threat with lobs, that’s been the key.”
Frazier also pointed out the improvement in conditioning that he’s seen from Cyril since he arrived in Athens.
“He’s probably in the best shape I’ve seen him since I’ve known the kid,” he said.