Kentucky basketball makes early move for a top 2028 guard

Kentucky basketball is still living in the urgency of the 2027 recruiting cycle, but Mark Pope’s staff is not recruiting with tunnel vision. The Wildcats are already looking further down the road. That is where Liam Mitakaro enters the picture.

Mitakaro, a 2028 guard out of Bella Vista Prep in Scottsdale, Arizona, has become one of the more compelling young names on the national board. The 6-foot-4, 175-pound playmaker is currently rated by 247Sports as the No. 29 overall player in the country, the No. 4 combo guard nationally, and the No. 2 player in Arizona for his class.

That ranking is strong. It also may not hold high enough for long. Kentucky’s offer puts the Wildcats into one of the faster-rising recruitments of the summer. Mitakaro already has offers from Ole Miss, Arkansas, Kansas, Syracuse, and others, while programs such as Texas, UCLA, Oregon, Cal, UNLV, Oklahoma State, and Arizona State have also been around the conversation. The board is getting crowded because the film is not difficult to understand.

Mitakaro looks like a guard built for where basketball is going.

At 6-foot-4, he has the kind of positional size that changes the math. He can see over smaller defenders, pass over pressure, and finish through angles that shorter guards do not always have. But the size is only part of the story. What makes him different is how he moves with it.

Mitakaro is not a blur who plays every possession at one speed. He is more controlled than chaotic. He glides, hesitates, changes pace, and lets the defender make the first mistake. That is a mature trait for a young guard. Some players attack because they are fast. Mitakaro attacks because he understands timing.

That is why defenders have trouble staying attached.

Switch a bigger body onto him, and Mitakaro can stretch the possession with his handle before using his stride to turn the corner. Put a smaller guard in front of him, and he can use his length to finish near the rim or pass over the top. He is crafty without being loose. He probes without wasting motion. His head stays up, and that matters because he is constantly reading the floor for the next pass.

The lob is there.

The dump-off is there.

The weak-side shooter is there.

Mitakaro plays like a guard who already understands that the best possession is not always the one where he takes the shot. That is the quality Kentucky should love most. In Pope’s offense, guards must think the game, not just run it. They have to play with pace, spacing, feel, and patience. Mitakaro checks those boxes early.

His transition game is smooth, but his half-court control may be the better long-term indicator. He does not panic when the first option is gone. He can use a pivot. He has a floater. He has enough lift and hang time to finish creatively around the rim. He can make plays in traffic without looking rushed.

That is hard to teach.

The next step is strength, and that should come naturally as his body matures. His frame has room to add weight without taking away from his fluidity. Once that happens, the finishing should become more consistent, the defensive versatility should expand, and his ability to absorb contact should climb. The physical projection is one of the biggest reasons his ceiling is so intriguing.

There is also the international piece. Mitakaro has been more than just a name on the 2028 recruiting trail. The Calgary, Alberta native has built real momentum while playing for Team Canada on the FIBA U17 World Cup stage. That environment matters. It puts young guards against different styles, different coverages, and different levels of physicality. It tests decision-making. It tests composure.

Liam Mitakaro put up a fight for Canada. The Canadian guard led his team with 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in Canada's opening game at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup against Lithuania in Istanbul. @LiamMitakaro@BellaVistaHoops@UPLAYCanada@CanBballpic.twitter.com/TW2rGlzFFR

, CanadaHoopsTV🏀 (@canadahoopstv) June 28, 2026

Mitakaro has passed those tests with substance. His breakout performance most recently against Puerto Rico was the kind of box score that forces evaluators to pay closer attention: 23 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, two steals, and two blocks while shooting 7-of-13 from the field, 4-of-9 from three, and 5-of-6 at the free throw line.

That is a complete guard performance.

Not empty points. Not just hot shooting. Not just one electric highlight that travels across social media for a day and disappears. That was control of a game. Scoring, creating, rebounding, defending, and making winning plays in multiple phases.

That is why the five-star conversation is coming. Mitakaro may be listed as a four-star right now, but the profile is trending toward something bigger. He has the size. He has the feel. He has the pace. He has the production. He has the offer sheet. Most importantly, he has the kind of game that tends to age well.

For Kentucky, this is not just about chasing a ranking.

It is about identifying a guard who could fit the next phase of Pope’s build. The Wildcats are going to keep working the transfer portal. That is modern college basketball. They are going to keep attacking the 2027 class. That is the immediate priority. But the programs that sustain success are the ones that recruit tomorrow while everyone else is reacting to today.

Mitakaro represents that kind of forward thinking.

He is a tall point guard with real command. He can run an offense. He can create without being sped up. He can play with tempo in the open floor and patience in the half-court. He can score when needed, but his best trait may be how naturally he connects the action around him. That is winning basketball. For Kentucky, it is exactly the kind of early swing that can matter two years from now. The Cats did not just offer another rising prospect.

They offered a guard whose stock is already moving, whose game is already stretching beyond his age and whose best basketball still feels a long way from being fully revealed.

BBN should remember the name now because by the time everyone else catches up to Liam Mitakaro, Kentucky may already be right where it wants to be.

This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky basketball makes early move for a top 2028 guard