Top-10 Senior Cherif Millogo Commits to Kentucky, Becomes Mark Pope's Highest-Ranked Recruit

Mark Pope just landed the biggest recruiting win of his Kentucky tenure, and he did it with one of the tallest prospects in the country. Cherif Millogo, a 7-foot-5 senior center ranked in the top 10 of the 2027 class, committed to Kentucky on Wednesday, ESPN's Jeff Borzello reported.

Millogo announced the decision himself. He is No. 8 overall and the No. 2 center in ESPN's SC Next 100, and he was one of the biggest risers in ESPN's latest rankings update. According to Borzello, that makes him the highest-ranked recruit Pope has landed at Kentucky.

A rapid rise

Other services rank him lower, though each has him among the top centers in the class. Rivals ranks Millogo No. 11 overall and No. 2 among centers in the 2027 class, and the 247Sports Composite has him No. 29 nationally.

Millogo is originally from West Africa and now plays for St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge, Calif. He previously played at Cambridge ATS in Massachusetts but missed the 2024-25 season with a torn ACL, according to Rivals. Back on the floor at St. Francis, he averaged 26 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks per game last season.

He also models his game on a perimeter star. "My favorite player is Kevin Durant," Millogo told Rivals in an earlier interview. "I started to play basketball because of him."

How Kentucky won out

Millogo took an official visit to Lexington in October and has since visited USC and BYU, the program Pope coached before taking over at Kentucky in 2024. Texas, Creighton and Arkansas were among the other schools that offered him, per Rivals.

He is Kentucky's second commitment in the 2027 class, joining four-star shooting guard Ryan Hampton, the No. 23 player nationally in the Rivals rankings.

The last word

Elite size has always been a calling card in Lexington, and Millogo gives Pope a centerpiece for his 2027 class. If his rise in the rankings continues through his senior season, Kentucky may have landed one of the best big men in the country before most of the class has decided.

Sources: ESPN, Rivals, 247Sports and Undrafted reporting. More Kentucky coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Crane, U.S. Army National Guard (public domain).