Headlines:Kentucky Wildcats  Nab $80 Million Star

Some of you are still celebrating the holiday, some are returning to work, and others are using the day to finally take a breath and relax. Whatever you’re doing today, thanks for stopping in!

The transfer portal has become such an integral aspect of college sports, and with the college basketball season nearing the halfway point, which college basketball program has best utilized the portal this season?

That’s the question Issac Trotter from 247 Sports set out to answer, looking at factors such as winning and outperforming preseason expectations.

Trotter’s rankings have the Kentucky Wildcats as the #2 transfer class. Here’s what he had to say about the Wildcats.

Kentucky does not have a First Team, All-American candidate, but that’s the beauty of Mark Pope’s everybody-eats system. Kentucky should enter SEC play at 11-2 if it takes care of Brown next week with wins over Gonzaga and Duke that should age like fine wine while the ‘Cats navigate an SEC slate that will have more bumps and jolts than white water rafting.

Pope’s deep roster was built with little-to-no positional overlap. Lamont Butler and Otega Oweh are physical drive-first, two-way guards whose skillsets pair perfectly with Jaxson Robinson and Koby Brea, two on-the-move shooters. Bigs like Andrew Carr, Brandon Garrison and Amari Williams are all comfortable with the ball in their hands to execute Kentucky’s handoff-heavy scheme. When that’s not working or transition buckets aren’t flowing, Pope can lean on ‘em as post-up threats to create good looks.

Pope might be Kentucky’s MVP. This hot start wouldn’t be possible without his deft touch with roster construction and X’s and O’s.

While some programs used the portal to fill holes here and there on the roster, Kentucky Head Coach Mark Pope had a much bigger challenge in completely redoing the Wildcats roster.

In doing so, it was more than just bringing in the most talented players in the portal. Instead, it was finding the right pieces that would mesh well together.