"He is a locker room leader": Kentucky Wildcats HC Mark Pope showers praises on 4-star signing Acaden Lewis

Acaden Lewis, a point guard with the potential to be an even better ball distributor, signed with the Kentucky Wildcats on Thursday, bolstering their 2025 class further. He now joins other Kentucky commits, five-star combo guard Jasper Johnson and four-star center Malachi Moreno, both of whom have also already signed with the school.

During a press conference, that same day, Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Pope was all praises for Acaden Lewis, saying that he has what it takes to lead the team:

“I think he’s a leader in the locker room. I think he’s a guy who has his own, unique charisma that (allows) guys to trust him. Guys want to be around him. Guys feel like he makes them better. He’s a winner. I think the ways that’s demonstrated is not just him building relationships with guys, but just his acumen on the floor.”

Pope also praised Acaden Lewis's abilities on the court, saying that he has great court vision and an ability to score.

“He’s a guy that is always thinking about tricking the tag with his eyes, and always thinking about putting a big in gray space, in terms of, ‘What is the right decision to make,’ on the offensive end,” added coach Pope.

“His IQ is something that will translate to the defensive end also, where he can be really, really disruptive because he sees the game and thinks the game and is kind of obsessed with the game.”

The Sidwell Friends School point guard is ranked the No. 1 player in Washington DC and the No. 32 overall nationally by 247Sports. He is also ranked the No. 5 point guard from the Class of 2025.

Coach Mark Pope fought hard to secure Acaden Lewis' commitment

Several schools were very interested in Acaden Lewis before he committed to Kentucky, and that includes powerhouses like Duke and defending NCAA national champion UConn. Mark Pope attributed this success of landing the four-star to his personal recruiting approach.

Pope went out of his way to visit Lewis over at DC, and in turn, Lewis is now helping Pope out in recruiting another Kentucky target in five-star power forward Caleb Wilson. Lewis is reportedly telling Wilson about how hard the coach is working on recruiting players.

Pope has stated that he will try and visit players' homes whenever he recruits someone, even wanting to see them live and see who their family and friends are. This recruitment style has endeared the coach to many players already, leading to some big commitments.