Mark Pope might have found the final player for the 2024-25 Kentucky basketball roster

Kentucky might be adding one more elite player to the 2024-25 roster.

The Wildcats' mascot played to the crowd during Kentucky basketball's Blue-White scrimmage tipped off at Northern Kentucky University on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. / Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal / USA

One of the recent interesting off-season topics surrounding the Kentucky basketball program is how Coach Pope will use the final 2024-25 roster spot. Would it be a transfer, a member of the 2024 class, or a player who will reclassify from the 2025 class? While we still don't know the answer to this question, it seems like a new option is surfacing.

Julius Halaifonua is a seven-footer who was a member of the 2025 class but recently reclassified to the 2024 class. On3 has Halaifonua ranked as the 60th-best player in the 2024 class and the 11th-best center after updating the class rankings. Before the reclass to the 2024 class, Halaifonua was ranked as the 33rd-best player in the 2025 class.

Halaifonua has only recently been contacted by the big dogs of college basketball, as Kentucky, Gonzaga, and North Carolina have all recently made contact.

When watching film on Halaifonua it is very clear that he is a really good fit for Coach Pope's system as he loves to share the basketball. Halaifonua is an excellent passer, which is the exact type of big Coach Pope wants on his roster.

Kentucky is one of the schools that just recently got in on the recruitment of Halaifonua, so it will be interesting to see how quickly this process moves. Coach Pope likes Halaifonua's game and believes he would be a good final addition to this roster.

Halaifonua is a name for Big Blue Nation to monitor as Coach Pope looks for the final member of his 2024-25 roster.