Sports
Messi will score his 900th career goal in 2026. Can he reach 1,000? Can he pass Ronaldo?
Lionel Messi is never far from breaking his next record or hitting his next landmark, and he enters 2026 on the verge of yet another massive milestone in his incredible career: his 900th goal.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is poised on 896 goals in his senior career for Argentina, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and current club Inter Miami following his final match of 2025: Miami’s MLS Cup triumph over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Dec. 5.
The 2026 MLS season doesn’t kick off until Feb. 21, and Argentina are not in action again until they play Spain in the Finalissima in Doha on March 27. Therefore, we’ll have to wait a little while before Messi can get the four goals he needs to hit goal No. 900, but it is likely to come soon enough once the 38-year-old resumes competitive action.
Right now, Messi’s longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo is the only active player to have scored over 900 professional career goals, having achieved the feat in September 2024. Given that the active player with the next-highest goal total is Robert Lewandowski with 685, it might be some while before the twin titans of modern football are joined in the 900 club by anyone else.
– Miami’s maiden MLS title caps off long, ambitious Messi project
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– Messi tracker: Goals, assists, key moments for MLS champs Inter Miami
Messi’s goal-scoring odyssey began way back in May 2005, when the teenage sensation emerged from the bench for the final two minutes of Barcelona’s league game against Albacete and capped off a 2-0 victory with his first goal in professional football.
Even though expectations were high for Messi all the way through his development, no one could have predicted the incredible level of success that would follow that first goal at Camp Nou. Yet here we all are 21 years later, with Messi still scoring goals at such a rate that there is no telling how much more he could achieve.
Much has rightly been made about Ronaldo’s quest to reach an undisputed career tally of 1,000 goals, with the 40-year-old now within 50 strikes of that total. But as Messi nears 900, could he also have that four-figure total in his sights? And, being almost 2½ years younger than Ronaldo, could he yet retire with more goals to his name than the Portugal superstar?
Messi’s goals by team
It shouldn’t come as much surprise to learn that most of Messi’s goals were scored at the club where he enjoyed the majority of his career and his peak years: Barcelona. The 5-foot-7 forward scored 672 goals in 778 games for the Catalan giants across 17 seasons — which accounts for 75% of his career tally.
Messi then scored 32 goals in 75 games during his two-year stint with PSG before adding another 77 goals in 88 games to date for Inter Miami.
On the international front, Messi has a running tally of 115 goals in 196 games for Argentina. Though none were bigger than the two goals he scored (plus a penalty in the shootout) in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final victory over France.
Barcelona: 672 goals in 778 games
Paris Saint-Germain: 32 goals in 75 games
Inter Miami: 77 goals in 88 games
Argentina: 115 goals in 196 games
Total: 896 goals in 1,137 games
Messi’s goals per season
Aged 17, Messi debuted for the Barcelona senior side in 2004-05 under head coach Frank Rijkaard and scored just one goal in nine games in all competitions — his first professional career goal, when Ronaldinho set him up to open his account against Albacete in May 2005.
He followed up with his first senior international goal for Argentina in March 2006, in a friendly defeat to Croatia. And with goals for club and country combined, Messi reached double figures in his sophomore campaign (10 goals in 2005-06) and hasn’t looked back, having done likewise in each of the subsequent 20 seasons of his professional career.
Messi’s highest single-season return came in 2011-12, when he amassed a dizzying 82 goals for club and country. It was also the same season that Messi notched his 234th goal in 314 games for Barça to become the club’s top career goal scorer at the age of 24, seizing the mantle from César Rodriguez, hero of the side from the 1940s and ’50s. The decisive strike proved to be Messi’s second goal of a hat trick he scored in a 5-3 win over Granada in March 2012.
Messi had to wait until November of the 2014-15 campaign to become LaLiga‘s top career scorer when another hat trick, this time against Sevilla, saw him reach 253 goals in 289 Spanish league games. He overtook another Barça great, Telmo Zarra, whose individual record of 251 goals in LaLiga had stood since 1955. Messi went on to score 66 goals in total that season.
To sum up his ludicrously prolific goal-scoring consistency, during the 22 seasons that Messi has spent as a professional footballer he has passed the 80-goal mark once, the 60-goal mark three times, the 50-goal mark eight times and the 40-goal mark on 14 occasions. During his monumental heyday, he also scored at least 30 goals for club and country for 13 consecutive campaigns between 2008-09 and 2020-21, the end of which coincided with him leaving Barcelona for PSG.
Following that emotional exit, Messi’s goal return faltered in Paris, where his first season (2021-22) produced a “mere” 22 goals. That said, he did deliver 37 goals in his second term (2022-23). He didn’t spend too long in France, but he did manage to win two Ligue 1 titles and the Trophée des Champions, as well as surpassing Ronaldo’s tally of 701 goals to become the top career goal scorer in European club football with a goal against Nice in April 2023.
Messi’s many records and milestones
Messi refuses to hang around in his relentless pursuit of career milestones. He became Barcelona’s top career scorer in 2011-12, just eight seasons into his senior career, by rattling away 234 goals in his first 314 games for the club. He then quickly took the LaLiga record when he scored that 253rd goal in Spanish league appearances.
We shouldn’t gloss over the fact that he also holds a world record for most goals scored in a single calendar year, having stormed to 91 in 69 games in 2012. Messi scored 79 goals for Barça and 12 for Argentina to surpass the previous annual record of 85, which had been held by Bayern Munich legend Gerd Müller since 1972.
Messi scored the 500th goal of his club and international career in April 2016 in a shock 2-1 home defeat for Barcelona against Valencia. The forward did so in his 632nd game, having amassed 450 goals in 525 games for Barça and 50 goals in 107 caps for Argentina at the time.
He is also the fastest player on record to score 100 goals in the Champions League after taking just 123 games to do so, with the crucial strike coming against Chelsea in March 2018 — also making him the youngest player to reach a century in the competition at 30 years and 263 days.
In that same quarterfinal second leg, Messi also scored the quickest goal of his career, when he bagged his 99th UCL goal with 128 seconds on the clock at Camp Nou.
Even as he pushes on toward his 40s, Messi is still eating up milestones in MLS. After guiding Inter Miami to their first-ever trophy, the 2023 Leagues Cup, he then scored 23 goals in 25 games in 2024 to take over as Inter Miami’s top career scorer and drive them to claim the Supporters’ Shield.
The 2025 season saw Messi ramp it up again, scoring 29 goals in 28 regular-season games en route to winning the MLS Golden Boot. He also became the fastest player to reach 50 goals in MLS history, taking 53 games to beat the previous record shared by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Josef Martínez (54 games). In all, Messi scored 43 goals in 49 games for Inter Miami in 2025.
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How Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi could face off in WC quarterfinals
Take a look at the potential fixtures of the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals including Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal facing Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
When could Messi hit 1,000 goals?
He still has more than 100 goals to go until he reaches the 1,000 milestone, but there’s every chance Messi will get there.
At 38, he still has three years to run on his Inter Miami contract after signing an extension in October 2025 that is due to run until the conclusion of the 2028 MLS season, when Messi will be 41.
Messi has averaged 36 goals a season for club and country since moving to MLS in July 2023 (77 for Miami, 12 for Argentina). However, with uncertainty over how much longer he will continue to play for Argentina — speaking to ESPN last month, he would not confirm that he will play at the 2026 World Cup — that rate would likely drop if he is no longer playing international games.
Still, should he continue to average 36 goals per season for Miami beyond the World Cup next summer, Messi would be on course to score his 1,000th career goal at some point toward the end of the 2028 season, the final year of his current contract.
Of course, this is an incredibly basic calculation that doesn’t take into account any fluctuations in form or fitness — but we employed the same method to calculate if/when Ronaldo would reach his 1,000th career goal, and we haven’t been too wide of the mark regarding his progress toward that target thus far.
Could he retire with more goals than Ronaldo?
Ronaldo, who currently has 957 career goals in 1,298 games for club and country, turns 41 on Feb. 5.
Messi, who has 896 goals in 1,137 games at senior level, turns 39 on June 24.
If Ronaldo dramatically announced his retirement on New Year’s Day 2026 and Messi played on for two further seasons for club and country until the age of 40, while successfully maintaining his average goal return since moving to the U.S. of 36 goals per season, the latter would potentially surpass his rival’s tally of 957 in mid-2027.
In that scenario, Messi could end his career with a total of 968. Again, that’s a ballpark calculation, but it gives an indication of how time is very much on Messi’s side as the younger man of the two rivals.
Both players have unquestionably defined the era in which they have played, winning the Ballon d’Or a combined 13 times between Ronaldo’s first in 2008 and Messi’s eighth in 2023. But, even now, both are still strengthening their respective claims to be declared the greatest of all time.
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Fernando Mendoza is the biggest name, but not the only big name in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Let’s check out the Over/Under odds (at DraftKings Sportsbook as of April 22) for where some of the biggest names in this year’s draft might land.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
Ty Simpson
Alabama — QB
Over 24.5: -270 (bet $10 to win $13.70 total)
Under 24.5: +195 (bet $10 to win $29.50 total)
What to know: Only two quarterbacks went in the first round last season, after the first three picks of the 2024 NFL Draft were QBs. The last Alabama QB to go in the first round was Bryce Young back in 2023, when he was selected No. 1 by the Panthers. Simpson is heavily favored (-2500) to be the second quarterback off the board in 2026.
Jeremiyah Love
Notre Dame — RB
Over 5.5: +275 (bet $10 to win $37.50 total)
Under 5.5: -400 (bet $10 to win $12.50 total)
What to know: The last time a running back went in the top five was back in 2018, when the Giants selected Saquon Barkley with the second overall pick. Ashton Jeanty went sixth to the Raiders last season.
Sonny Styles
Ohio State — LB
Over 5.5: -150 (bet $10 to win $16.67 total)
Under 5.5: +115 (bet $10 to win $21.50 total)
What to know: The last linebacker to go in the top five just so happens to be the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, Will Anderson Jr. He went to the Texans with the third pick in 2023. Now, Anderson mostly plays edge rusher for Houston.
Sonny Styles of Ohio State (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Carnell Tate
Ohio State — WR
Over 7.5: -135 (bet $10 to win $17.41 total)
Under 7.5: +105 (bet $10 to win $20.50 total)
What to know: If you count Travis Hunter as a wide receiver, then two wide receivers went in the top 10 in 2025: Hunter to Jacksonville at No. 2, and Tetairoa McMillan to Carolina at No. 8. Three wideouts went in the top 10 in 2024: Marvin Harrison Jr. to Arizona at No. 4, Malik Nabers to the Giants at No. 6 and Rome Odunze to Chicago at No. 9. Tate is favored (-175) to be the first wide receiver to come off the board in 2026.
Jordyn Tyson
Arizona State — WR
Over 8.5: +140 (bet $10 to win $24.00 total)
Under 8.5: -185 (bet $10 to win $15.41 total)
What to know: Jordyn Tyson’s odds to be a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft opened at +400 in March. They have since surged to -500 for him to go inside the top 10.
Caleb Downs
Ohio State — S
Over 9.5: -115 (bet $10 to win $18.70 total)
Under 9.5: -115 (bet $10 to win $18.70 total)
What to know: No safety has gone top-10 in the NFL Draft since Jamal Adams went sixth to the Jets back in 2017. Minkah Fitzpatrick went 11th to the Dolphins in 2018. Malaki Starks was the first safety selected last season, going 27th to Baltimore.
Rueben Bain Jr.
Miami FL — DL
Over 8.5: -400 (bet $10 to win $12.50 total)
Under 8.5: +270 (bet $10 to win $37 total)
What to know: Defensive linemen always go in the top 10. Since 2013, only twice has the top 10 not featured a defensive lineman — back in 2021 and then again in 2024.
Rueben Bain Jr. of Miami (Photo by CFP/Getty Images)
Spencer Fano
Utah — OL
Over 10.5: +100 (bet $10 to win $20.00 total)
Under 10.5: -130 (bet $10 to win $17.69 total)
What to know: Fano is a close second choice to be the first offensive lineman drafted on Thursday at +110, just behind Francis Mauigoa, who leads the market at -125.
Makai Lemon
USC — WR
Over 14.5: -130 (bet $10 to win $17.69 total)
Under 14.5: +100 (bet $10 to win $20.00 total)
What to know: Lemon is expected to be the third wide receiver off the board, behind Tate and Tyson. He’ll look to follow in the footsteps of recent USC wide receivers Jordan Addison (2023) and Drake London (2022), who were both selected in the first round.
Olaivavega Ioane
Penn State — OL
Over 14.5: +225 (bet $10 to win $32.50 total)
Under 14.5: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
What to know: Ioane has the fifth-best odds (+1800) to be the first offensive lineman selected. That said, he is still firmly expected to be a first-round pick.
Kenyon Sadiq
Oregon — TE
Over 15.5: -115 (bet $10 to win $18.70 total)
Under 15.5: -120 (bet $10 to win $18.33 total)
What to know: Colston Loveland (No. 10 to Chicago) and Tyler Warren (No. 14 to Indianapolis) both went in the top 15 last season. Brock Bowers went 13th to Las Vegas in 2024, and Kyle Pitts went fourth to Atlanta in 2021. In other words, the tight end position is on the rise when it comes to the first half of the first round. Sadiq is expected to be the first tight end off the board in 2026.
Kadyn Proctor
Alabama — OL
Over 16.5: +145 (bet $10 to win $24.50 total)
Under 16.5: -195 (bet $10 to win $15.13 total)
What to know: Proctor is the third choice (+950) to be the first offensive lineman drafted, behind Mauigoa (-125) and Fano (+110).
Dillon Thieneman
Oregon — S
Over 17.5: -215 (bet $10 to win $14.65 total)
Under 17.5: +155 (bet $10 to win $25.50 total)
What to know: Thieneman is heavily favored (-400) to be the second safety off the board, behind Downs. In 2025, only one safety was selected in the first round. That likely won’t be the case this year, with Thieneman expected to be selected in the middle of the first round.
Dillon Thieneman of Oregon (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Monroe Freeling
Georgia — OL
Over 19.5: +185 (bet $10 to win $28.50 total)
Under 19.5: -250 (bet $10 to win $14.00 total)
What to know: In 2025, eight offensive linemen were selected in the first round, and a similar number is expected in 2026, with Freeling projected to be among them.
Omar Cooper Jr.
Indiana — WR
Over 23.5: +120 (bet $10 to win $22.00 total)
Under: 23.5: -160 (bet to win $16.25 total)
What to know: Cooper is projected to be the fourth or fifth wide receiver selected. If he goes in the first round, he would become the first Indiana receiver drafted in the opening round since Thomas Lewis in 1994.
KC Concepcion
Texas A&M — WR
Over 24.5: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)
Under: 24.5: -130 (bet to win $17.69 total)
What to know: Counting Travis Hunter as a wide receiver, four total wide receivers were selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. In 2024, seven wide receivers went in the first round. This year, the line is set at 5.5 wide receivers selected in Round 1, with the over juiced to -165.
Akheem Mesidor
Miami FL — EDGE
Over 25.5: -105 (bet $10 to win $19.52 total)
Under 25.5: -125 (bet $10 to win $18.00 total)
What to know: Mesidor is expected to be the fourth or fifth edge rusher selected, behind Arvell Reese, David Bailey, and his college teammate Rueben Bain Jr. He and Auburn’s Keldric Faulk are likely next in line.
Denzel Boston
Washington — WR
Over 26.5: -125 (bet $10 to win $18.00 total)
Under 26.5: -105 (bet $10 to win $19.52 total)
What to know: Boston will look to follow in the footsteps of former Washington Huskies wide receivers Rome Odunze and John Ross, who were both selected in the first round. He is expected to be among the five or six wide receivers selected in this year’s first round.
Jermod McCoy
Tennessee — CB
Over 28.5: -150 (bet $10 to win $16.67 total)
Under: 28.5: +115 (bet to win $21.50 total)
What to know: After Mansoor Delane (-5000 to be the first cornerback selected), McCoy is tied with Colton Hood and Chris Johnson at +175 to be the second cornerback drafted. In 2025, three cornerbacks were selected in the first round.
Chris Johnson
San Diego State — CB
Over 32.5: +180 (bet $10 to win $28.00 total)
Under 32.5: -250 (bet $10 to win $14.00 total)
What to know: At the beginning of April, Chris Johnson’s odds to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft opened at +550. He is one of the fastest rising prospects and is now -250 to go in the first.
Roster overhauls are not uncommon in today’s era of men’s college basketball.
This offseason is no different, with around a dozen power-conference schools returning zero or just one player from this past season. It has been a growing trend as the sport has become more reliant on the transfer portal, with salary caps dictating roster construction and teams adding seven to eight players in the spring becoming the new norm.
Last week, we looked at how the Final Four teams — and Duke — have been approaching the offseason. This week, we’re putting the same focus on the three winningest programs in college basketball history: Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina. None made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, and each face massive rebuilds heading into next season.
All information as of 9 a.m. ET on April 20
Players leaving: Bill Self faces arguably the biggest rebuild of the three programs featured here.
Potential No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson was gone regardless, but All-Big 12 big man Flory Bidunga‘s decision to enter the portal and head to Louisville was a difficult loss. Starting wings Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White were seniors, and six more players joined Bidunga in the portal. The biggest loss among that group was Bryson Tiller, who started 31 games and looks poised for a breakout season in 2026-27. Making matters worse, Tiller committed to rival Missouri.
Players staying or incoming: The retention list is short. Kohl Rosario, who started the first six games of this past season before seeing his role diminish as the year progressed, is back and still has a high ceiling.
Self has the fifth-best class of incoming freshmen, led by five-star point guard Taylen Kinney. Two more SC Next 100 recruits, Davion Adkins and Trent Perry, and four-star guard Luke Barnett round out the group.
Kansas has also landed two players out of the portal thus far: Utah transfer Keanu Dawes and Toledo transfer Leroy Blyden Jr. Dawes was one of the Big 12’s best rebounders last season, ranking in the top 50 nationally at 8.8 per game. Blyden, a 6-foot-1 point guard, was the MAC Freshman of the Year.
Players in limbo: Freshman big man Paul Mbiya has been an interesting follow. He suddenly played a key role in the NCAA tournament, reports emerged that he planned to enter the portal … and yet, he’s still on the Jayhawks and hasn’t portaled yet.
Work to do: Kansas has a massive amount of work to build a roster that can compete next season. The Jayhawks’ top target is No. 1 recruit Tyran Stokes, who they appeared on track to land until a recent trip to Kentucky cast doubt on their status as the front-runners.
Kansas has hosted a long list of players from the portal, although Terrence Hill Jr. (Tennessee) and DeSean Goode (Miami) have committed elsewhere. Charlotte big man Anton Bonke was on campus last week, as was Utah transfer Terrence Brown, though UNC appears to be the favorite for Brown.
With Blyden committed, Self needs a scorer with size on the wing. Vyctorius Miller (Oklahoma State) is among the players on the Jayhawks’ list for that role. In the frontcourt, Cincinnati transfer Moustapha Thiam — one of the best bigs left in the portal — is among their targets, though he is visiting Michigan this week.
Players leaving: A roller-coaster season that started with the nation’s largest payroll and ended with a second-round loss to Iowa State in the NCAA tournament portended a roster overhaul.
The starting backcourt of Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen is out of eligibility (although Florida is attempting to secure an extra year for Aberdeen), while Jayden Quaintance was expected to declare for the NBA draft. Six more players also entered the transfer portal, including starting guard Collin Chandler and frontcourt mainstays Andrija Jelavic, Mouhamed Dioubate and Brandon Garrison.
Players staying or incoming: Two key contributors are back from last season: starting center Malachi Moreno and rotation wing Kam Williams, who missed most of the second half of the campaign with a broken foot. Moreno has a chance to be one of the best centers in the country next season.
Role player Trent Noah and redshirts Braydon Hawthorne and Reece Potter are also back. And Kentucky’s lone high school commit is four-star guard Mason Williams, son of new assistant coach Mo Williams.
After missing on a few early portal targets such as BYU’s Robert Wright III and Georgia’s Jeremiah Wilkinson, Mark Pope finally landed his 2026-27 backcourt last week with Washington transfer Zoom Diallo and Furman transfer Alex Wilkins. Diallo averaged 15.7 points and 4.5 assists last season for the Huskies, while Wilkins was one of the most electric first-year point guards in the country and boosted his stock with 21 points against UConn in the NCAA tournament.
Players in limbo: Barring a surprise return from Quaintance, Pope isn’t waiting on any stay-or-go decisions.
Work to do: Kentucky still has plenty of targets left on the board, with overall No. 1 recruit Stokes at the top of the list.
Stokes is down to the Wildcats and Jayhawks, with a decision expected to come at any point. Pope could use a statement signing to help the overall vibe in Lexington, and they don’t get much bigger than Stokes. Kansas had the lead entering Stokes’ recent visit to Kentucky; did Pope flip momentum on the trip?
Kentucky needs shooting, and NC State transfer Paul McNeil Jr. is on the short list. Utah transfer Terrence Brown was also a target but visited North Carolina and Kansas and hasn’t rescheduled a visit to Kentucky. Up front, the Wildcats are prioritizing Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman, one of the best players available. Former USC center Gabe Dynes is expected to visit this week; the 7-foot-5 Dynes would provide interior depth.
Players leaving: With Hubert Davis out and Michael Malone in, extensive roster turnover was inevitable.
Projected top-five pick Caleb Wilson was headed to the NBA regardless, while Seth Trimble is out of eligibility. Still, nine players entered the portal following the coaching change, with Derek Dixon and Luka Bogavac the most notable, although two have since opted to withdraw and return to Chapel Hill to play for Malone.
It’s also worth noting that Carolina had a commitment from top-10 incoming freshman Dylan Mingo until he reopened his recruitment last week.
Players staying or incoming: The lone starter guaranteed to return from last season is Jarin Stevenson, who helped fill Wilson’s shoes after his injury and played well, averaging 10.7 points and 6.4 rebounds over the Tar Heels’ final 10 games. Jaydon Young and Isaiah Denis are returning after initially exploring the portal. And while Mingo opted to decommit, top-25 recruit Maximo Adams kept his commitment to the Tar Heels after the coaching change.
Since the portal opened, Malone added Virginia Tech transfer Neoklis Avdalas. The 6-foot-9 guard was inconsistent for most of his freshman season but generated first-round NBA draft buzz early in the campaign and has an intriguing combination of size and playmaking ability.
Players in limbo: All-ACC big man Henri Veesaar has yet to announce his intentions.
The proven big man could return to Carolina, enter the NBA draft or head into the transfer portal. Veesaar is essentially the linchpin to Malone’s first season who would be in the preseason All-American conversation should he return to college after averaging 17.0 points and 8.7 rebounds last season.
Work to do: There are two priorities for Malone right now.
One, as we just mentioned, is keeping Veesaar. He provides an anchor on the interior and would give the new head coach a player to build around. But given the timing of Veesaar’s pending decision, the lack of legitimate replacements at his position is glaring.
The second focus is a couple of perimeter scorers and playmakers, and the Tar Heels have a few players on their shortlist. Utah transfer Terrence Brown is atop the board; he has visited UNC and Kansas. Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris met with the Carolina staff a couple weekends ago, although he’s also going through the NBA draft process. NC State’s Matt Able and Paul McNeil Jr. have also been linked to the Tar Heels.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has publicly questioned the decision-making at the University of Kentucky, including the seven-figure gig retiring athletic director Mitch Barnhart was recently given.
Beshear’s chastisement, rare for a sitting governor, comes at a turbulent juncture for Kentucky athletics, which is falling behind its peers on the gridiron and the hardwood.
Barnhart, who will step down on June 30, was recently named executive in residence for the UK Sport and Workforce Initiative by Kentucky president Eli Capilouto. The contract for the gig, which will pay Barnhart $1 million per year beginning July 1, does not provide a concrete job description. That has prompted prominent supporters to ask the school to reverse the offer.
“I am losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned with the management and decision-making at the University of Kentucky,” Beshear said in a statement Tuesday. “My concerns include the creation of a new $1 million job that has no defined duties and the announcement that the new dean of law was the only candidate not recommended by law school faculty.
“I’ve been told that despite previously saying the dean must be approved by UK’s Board of Trustees, the university has shifted and now states approval is not needed. I worry that these actions are related to certain donors pushing partisan and undue outside influence onto the university. I hope students, faculty, trustees and the community attend this week’s board meetings and ask the tough questions that should be answered.”
Beshear’s criticism also follows the recent firing of football coach Mark Stoops in December after four consecutive sub-.500 seasons. He was replaced by Will Stein, who was the offensive coordinator at Oregon.
It’s also a difficult time for Mark Pope and the men’s basketball program, which is the winningest Division I team in NCAA history but hasn’t reached the Final Four since 2015. Last year, Pope made a run to the Sweet 16 in his first season. But that success didn’t last as his second season was filled with injuries and inconsistent efforts, ending with a 19-point loss to Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA tournament in March — only 48 hours after the team needed Otega Oweh‘s half-court heave at the end of regulation to force overtime in a win over Santa Clara.
Pope will enter his third season under a powerful spotlight after missing on major targets in the portal, including BYU guard Robert Wright III and Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman, who picked St. John’s and Rick Pitino, Pope’s mentor. While Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 recruit in the 2026 class, is still considering Kentucky, the Wildcats have not landed a top-100 prospect in the current recruiting class, according to ESPN.
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