Kentucky basketball is out of the race for one of their top 2025 targets

It looks like Kentucky is going to miss on an elite 2025 recruit.

St. Joseph's Tounde Yessoufou (24) dunks the ball during the first round of the Capitol City Classic at Willamette University on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Salem, Ore. / Kevin Neri/Statesman Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kentucky has landed two elite players in the 2025 class, but Coach Mark Pope isn't done yet, as he is looking to add more talent. One of the players' Coach Pope and the Kentucky staff were recruiting hard was Tounde Yessoufou. The 6'5, 211-pound power forward is ranked as the number 15 player in the 247Sports composite rankings.

Kentucky seemed like they were in a great position for Yessoufou with his official visit coming up, but the wing just canceled his visit to Lexington and cut his list of schools.

Yessoufou also canceled his visits to Kansas and UConn in addition to his Kentucky visit. He told Joe Tipton of On3 that his final three schools are Arizona State, Baylor, and USC. It will be interesting to know what played a role in this decision for Yessoufou.

Early playing time and NIL money could have all played a role in this decision by Yessoufou. Still, it comes as a surprise because it seemed like he was really interested in playing for Coach Pope and the University of Kentucky.

Kentucky more than likely will have Otega Oweh back for the 2025-26 season, which would have cut into Yessoufou's playing time as a freshman, as these two are very similar players.

Coach Pope had a solid recruiting weekend, as he is still in the running for a handful of top 30 recruits in the 2025 class. Kentucky's class will be top three when it is all said and done here in a few months.