As crucial as impressing a recruit, colleges interact with a player’s family. Check out Kentucky head coach Mark Pope’s approach to a recruit’s parents. Regardless of era, parents or legal guardians of a recruit can matter just as much as timed skills or grades.

Some recruits will use parents or legal guardians as sounding boards and discussion leaders who will provide opinions and insight about a program. More importantly, they are usually involved in the process of dealing with the head coach.

How Did Kentucky HC Mark Pope Wow Caleb Holt’s Father?

While college basketball has always felt like a business, players act as individual corporations, trying to find the best school that aligns with their brand and athletic pursuits. Coaches need to sell their prospects on the school, the program, and any lucrative financial incentives, as well as showcase the talent for a possible professional career. Holt’s father, Desman, sat down with On3.com to discuss how Kentucky framed their meetings.

“The pitch in terms of style of play is that they like to get up and down. That’s appealing to us,” Desman Holt said. “They have guys with an NBA pedigree, with Coach Pope having played in the league.”

Pope played six seasons in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Denver Nuggets. In between those stops, he competed in Europe. That experience apparently struck a chord with the elder Holt, as the NBA looks like where he eventually wants to go.

“It was impressive what they did last year in Coach Pope’s first year, having to form a roster on the fly basically,” he said. “That speaks to their acumen. It seems as if Coach Pope gives his guys freedom to play and make decisions.”

The school parted ways with longtime head coach John Calipari, who took the job at the University of Arkansas. Pope attempted to craft a lineup and institute a scheme with little runway.

The school hired him on April 12 of last year, giving him seven months to find the right balance to field a competitive team. Kentucky finished with a record of 24-12, winning two NCAA tournament games, returning to the regional semifinal, and losing to Tennessee, 78-65.

Holt is a six-foot-five shooting guard from Huntsville, Ala. His style of play fits Pope’s desire to not only play fast but also attack the rim and finish. He could give Kentucky a burgeoning scorer with an ability to defend the perimeter.

With other visits on his schedule, did Pope and Kentucky do enough to secure his services, or is Pope destined to play elsewhere?