"It's not Duke, it's Kentucky": Wildcats guard Kerr Kriisa ditches Blue Devils while showing gratitude for Coach Fueger

While Duke Blue Devils is one of the most celebrated basketball programs in the country, for Kerr Kriisa, the Kentucky Wildcats reign high. The Estonian point guard fits Mark Pope’s plan for the Cats, as he averaged 11.0 points and 4.7 assists last season on a clip of 42.9% from the field and 42% from distance.

Now, as Kriisa emerges as the frontrunner in Pope's attempts to form a winning locker room, he radiated immense respect for the Wildcats, albeit while acknowledging assistant coach Cody Feuger's inaugural efforts to bring him to the program.

"Coach Fueger was actually the first coach ever to call me about colleges," Kriisa said in the latest Kentucky Sports Radio's Instagram post. "So, it's a crazy full circle moment for me that going into my last year of college I can actually play for the coaches who were first one ever to reach out to me. Because I never really thought about going to college," he added.

"And then some things changed overseas and then I started to think about college a bit more and then Cody was the first one. It's special but also, I mean, it's Kentucky. I don't know what else to say. Really, it's freaking Kentucky, it's no Duke, it's Kentucky. It's different," Kriisa followed.

Kerr Kriisa played for Arizona in his initial three years, scoring 9.9 points per game and 5.1 apg in his last season.

While his efficiency did not shine with the Arizona Wildcats, his playmaking did, as he garnered two Pac-12 championships while leading the conference in assists.

Mark Pope has been trying to recruit Kerr Kriisa for a while

Mark Pope and Cody Fueger have been pursuing Kerr Kriisa prior to the increase in his 3-point shooting.

Duquesne v BYU - Source: Getty

The first instance came when Kriisa was playing high school basketball in Tartu, Estonia. While Fueger initiated talks with Kriisa, Pope flew out to the Baltic state in 2020 but could not land the four-star prospect’s commitment.

The second instance came when Kriisa entered the transfer portal last year. Despite Pope’s efforts, he committed to West Virginia Mountaineers. Pope and Fueger were part of BYU during these instances.