Mark Mitchell dropped 32 on Kentucky in the SEC Tournament last March, the most points any Tiger has ever scored in that event, and Friday a Louisville judge basically invited him to switch sides. Within an hour of the temporary restraining order landing, Mitchell was in the portal with a Do Not Contact tag and one roster spot left in Lexington staring at him like an open garage door. I have watched a lot of portal theater. This one has a destination already written into the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs’ own filing said Mitchell “desires to play in Kentucky and would be harmed here if he is not allowed to play this season.” That is not vague interest. That is a 6-9 forward who just finished an All-SEC season putting the school he wants into the court record while the NCAA was still trying to freeze the 2022 high school class out of a fifth year. Classes at Kentucky start around August 24. The window the order created is measured in days, not weeks. If Mark Pope does not close this, I will need a new definition of malpractice.
The Lawsuit Was the Recruiting Visit
Mitchell already used four seasons: two at Duke as a high-minute starter, two at Missouri where he became the engine. Last year he averaged 18.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while shooting 54.7 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from three. He led the Tigers in points, rebounds, and assists in the same season, something almost nobody does in the SEC. Dennis Gates called him one of the most versatile players in the country and meant it: “There’s not a position he didn’t play. He played the one through the five.” That is the exact profile Pope has been hunting since he took the job, a forward who can create, space, and survive physical SEC nights without needing the ball glued to his hands.
The Colorado injunction that briefly opened a fifth year for the Class of 2022 got stayed by the Tenth Circuit. Most guys in Mitchell’s spot were stuck. He and a dozen other athletes went to Jefferson Circuit Court in Louisville instead. Judge Brian Edwards, UK master’s degree in the pocket, granted the TRO and preliminary injunction on August 21. Attorney Hans Poppe posted the victory lap immediately: “Kentucky Temporary injunction GRANTED!!!!” Then he told Big Blue Nation not to get too comfortable: “Just don’t expect me to trade in the red for blue. After we win the future permanent injunction, we are enemies again (especially on 11/28 and 12/12) It is the natural order of things.” Even the lawyer who freed him is already circling the calendar for Kentucky-Louisville. The rest of us should be circling Mitchell’s name on the depth chart.
Missouri’s roster is full. Kentucky has the vacancy. The Do Not Contact tag is either leverage or a courtesy to keep the circus quiet while the paperwork finishes. I do not care which. The court filing already admitted he was having trouble deciding because NCAA rules blocked him from talking to anyone except his old school. The injunction removed that wall. The only remaining question is whether Pope can get the signature before the calendar turns into a pumpkin.
This Is What the Fifth Year Was Built For
I keep hearing the same pushback: another one-and-done portal mercenary, another roster that never settles. Mitchell is the opposite case. He started 133 of 134 career games. He went undrafted, took the Exhibit 10 with Denver, played Summer League, and still chose the courtroom over the G League. That is a player who looked at the NBA depth chart, looked at what he still needs to prove, and decided one more college season at the right place is worth more than another year of development deals. Kentucky under Pope is the right place. They need a ready-made scorer who already owns a 32-point night against them and does not require a redshirt acclimation period.
The broader fight is messy. The NCAA will appeal. Permanent injunction hearings are still coming. Ghost-transfer penalties are still hanging over every coach who touches the wrong guy on the wrong day. None of that changes the next seventy-two hours. Mitchell is eligible for 2026-27 right now because a Kentucky judge said so. He entered the portal the same afternoon. The school he named in the paperwork has the spot and the urgency.
I have seen Pope build through the portal before. This one feels different because the legal path and the basketball fit are the same road. A graduated forward who just led his team in three major categories, already cooked Kentucky once, and then sued his way into the chance to do it every night in Rupp. The permanent injunction can wait. The roster spot cannot. If Mitchell is still unsigned when UK students walk into their first classes, somebody in that building slept through the only window that mattered.
