Updating UK’s basketball recruiting board after start of fall period
The first week of the fall recruiting period included nearly a dozen visits for John Calipari, provided some answers about who UK is truly interested in for the 2019 class, and opened up some additional questions on that subject.
There appear to be at least 13 top-50 prospects still on Calipari’s radar for 2019, a sizable number with three early commitments and two months to go until the early signing period in November.
Calipari’s travels will slow down once this season’s team starts practicing more, but recruiting never stops, and some of his top targets will take their college decisions beyond the fall period and into the spring.
Here’s an updated look at Kentucky’s recruiting board for 2019 now that the first few days of the fall recruiting period have provided some clarity on the Cats’ top targets.
The guards
UK already has a commitment from five-star point guard Tyrese Maxey, and it seems likely that multiple players from this season’s backcourt could return for another year. As of now, Quade Green, Jemarl Baker, Tyler Herro and Immanuel Quickley are not widely projected as one-and-done NBA Draft picks.
Those projections can change — as UK fans know well — but the backcourt doesn’t seem to be much of a recruiting priority at this stage in the 2019 cycle.
Cole Anthony
The latest: The top-ranked guard in the class was at Notre Dame this past weekend for the first official visit of his recruitment, and he’s scheduled to take an official visit to North Carolina next weekend. There’s been no confirmation that Calipari has met with Anthony at his new high school, Oak Hill Academy (Va.), so far this fall, but the 6-foot-3 guard did include the Cats on his list of 12 schools last month. Anthony has also made it clear that he’s in no rush to make a college decision and will wait until the spring, so Calipari still has plenty of time to make an impression.
The picks: This remains one of the more mysterious recruitments in the country. The majority of Rivals.com analysts picked UNC in a poll last week. National recruiting expert Andrew Slater has changed his prediction to “foggy” in recent weeks. 247Sports’ Evan Daniels doesn’t have a Crystal Ball pick. “If anyone tells you they have a clue in his recruitment, they’re lying to you,” Daniels told the Herald-Leader this month.
RJ Hampton
The latest: Hampton isn’t even in the class of 2019, and he said recently that he intends to stay in 2020 following a summer filled with reclassification rumors. His father told the Memphis Commercial Appeal this week that Hampton might still make the move to 2019, however, in part because No. 1-ranked recruit James Wiseman has been pitching the idea of teaming up. Hampton and Wiseman both visited Memphis this past weekend, and the duo is also being recruited by Kentucky and Kansas. Hampton — a 6-4 guard from Texas — was the first 2020 recruit to get a visit from Calipari last week, and he’s expected to be in Lexington for Big Blue Madness. He’s ranked No. 7 nationally by 247Sports, but Evan Daniels told the Herald-Leader he would’ve been ranked even higher than that had he moved to the 2019 class. Kansas will host him for an official visit later this month.
The picks: Since Hampton isn’t even in the 2020 class yet, it’s probably too early to be talking about “trending” schools. Duke is the current Crystal Ball leader, but that could change as his recruitment heats up.
The wings
Kentucky already has commitments from five-star wing Kahlil Whitney and four-star wing Dontaie Allen, a top in-state prospect. The Cats might not add any more 2019 recruits at this position group, but the next two guys on the list have been Calipari targets for more than a year.
Keion Brooks
The latest: Calipari met with Brooks — a 6-7 prospect from Fort Wayne, Ind. — last week at his new school, prep powerhouse La Lumiere (Ind.). It was unclear until that trip how involved UK still was in Brooks’ recruitment following the early commitments from Allen and Whitney, but the Cats would obviously still like to add him to their 2019 class. Brooks will cut his list to six schools in the near future, and UK is expected to be in that group. Indiana, Michigan State, North Carolina and UCLA also seem likely to make the cut. An official visit to Big Blue Madness remains a possibility.
The picks: Indiana and Michigan State have been getting the most buzz in recent weeks, with the Hoosiers holding the majority on Brooks’ Crystal Ball page and among Rivals.com’s national experts.
Scottie Lewis
The latest: The 6-5 wing from New Jersey made it to UK for his official visit over the weekend. There was a question of whether that trip would even happen following his official visit to Florida the weekend before. The Herald-Leader was told Monday that Lewis’ trip to Lexington went well, and the Cats appear to have a legitimate shot in his recruitment. For now, this looks to be a two-team SEC race, though Duke, St. John’s, Stanford and Villanova remain on Lewis’ list.
The picks: Last week, everything was trending Florida’s way and a commitment to the Gators looked imminent. Since then, Evan Daniels and fellow national analyst Josh Gershon have both flipped their picks from Florida to “foggy,” and Kentucky is the reason for that uncertainty.
The frontcourt
This is where UK will need some players. The Cats could lose their entire frontcourt following this season — Reid Travis is in his final year of eligibility, and PJ Washington, Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery are all legitimate NBA prospects — and that means Calipari is looking for at least three (probably more) players to fill those spots. He has zero commitments but plenty of options, and it’ll also be worth watching for graduate transfers like Travis following this season, especially if all four of those current Cats head off to the pros.
Vernon Carey
The latest: Carey continues to keep a pretty tight lid on his recruitment, and there’s a sense that all five of his finalists still have a shot to land his commitment. The 6-10 power forward from Florida hosted visits with coaches from UK, Duke, Miami and Michigan State last week. (No confirmation yet of an in-home visit with UNC, his other finalist). Starting with Big Blue Madness weekend, Carey will take official visits to UK, Duke, Miami and North Carolina (in that order) and might return to Michigan State early next year after using his first official visit to that school in February.
The picks: He’s one of many in this class with a seemingly wide open recruitment. Evan Daniels changed his pick to “foggy” two weeks ago. Four different Rivals analysts had a total of three schools (two for Michigan State, one each for UK and Duke) in their predictions last week.
Kofi Cockburn
The latest: A new teammate of Cole Anthony’s at Oak Hill, the 6-10 center from New York is the only other player on this list that Calipari has not visited with over the past few days. Cockburn did include UK on his list of 12 schools recently, and he’s said that he’s hoping to visit Lexington soon. College coaches will be rolling through Oak Hill all fall to see Anthony and Cockburn, who is also expected to wait until the spring before making a decision.
The picks: The Rivals.com experts were split on UConn and St. John’s. The 247Sports Crystal Ball has just two predictions — a low number for a five-star senior — and neither is from a national recruiting analyst. Still too early for even a guess.
Matthew Hurt
The latest: Hurt might have been the busiest recruit in the country at the start of the fall period, hosting Calipari, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Bill Self, Jay Wright and Richard Pitino in the first two days alone. Penny Hardaway was in Minnesota to see the 6-9 forward two days later, and Indiana is among the other schools involved. Hurt has not yet announced his schedule of official visits, though UK will get one and a trip to Big Blue Madness next month remains a possibility.
The picks: Kansas remains the team to beat, holding a majority of his Crystal Ball predictions and support from three of four Rivals.com experts. Rivals’ Krysten Peek picked UK last week, however, and the upcoming official visits will play a large role in his recruitment.
Aidan Igiehon
The latest: One of the biggest questions heading into the fall period was how serious UK was in Igiehon’s recruitment. Calipari showed up in New York to visit on the second day of the fall period, so there’s clearly some level of interest. The next thing to watch will be if he schedules a visit to Lexington, and if he actually follows through with that trip. The 6-10 center, originally from Ireland, visited Oregon this past weekend and will be at Louisville next weekend. Local program St. John’s is his other finalist. U of L Coach Chris Mack actually flew to Ireland this week to meet with Igiehon’s mother, and ZagsBlog reported that a St. John’s assistant will make that trip later this week.
The picks: Unless UK turns up the heat on Igiehon, the rival Cardinals will be the team to beat. U of L dominates his Crystal Ball page, and Mack has made it clear that Igiehon is at the top of his wish list for 2019.
Jaden McDaniels
The latest: Some actual news in an otherwise quiet recruitment, Calipari was in Seattle last Thursday to visit with McDaniels and his family. Rivals.com’s Corey Evans also reported that Texas and San Diego State met with the 6-10 forward over the weekend. McDaniels has not cut his list or announced any campus visits. He’s expected to wait until the spring to make a decision.
The picks: The Rivals experts were split between Washington and Arizona. A couple of Crystal Ball picks have gone in favor of San Diego State, where his brother, Jalen, is currently a star player. It’s all guesswork for the time being. Evans did tell the Herald-Leader — before news broke of Calipari’s visit — that UK would have a good shot with the top-five prospect if the Cats go all in on his recruitment.
Zeke Nnaji
The latest: Nnaji was the first recruit to host Calipari for a visit when the fall period started last week, and he left that meeting with a UK scholarship offer. The 6-10 forward has been busy these past several days, hosting visits with coaches from Kansas, UCLA, Minnesota and several others. He also took unofficial visits to Notre Dame, Ohio State, UCLA and Arizona in the span of one week toward the end of August. More unofficial visits are coming later this month — including one to UK — and he’s expected to be back in Lexington for an official visit later in the fall, possibly for Big Blue Madness weekend.
The picks: The whirlwind nature of his recruitment makes this one tough to call, but there’s been a lot of buzz around UK in recent days. That buzz has turned into several Crystal Ball picks in favor of the Wildcats, including predictions from national analysts Andrew Slater and Jerry Meyer.
Isaiah Stewart
The latest: Stewart cut his list to six schools — Duke, Indiana, Michigan State, Syracuse, Villanova and Washington — late last month, but he’s now teammates with Keion Brooks, and Calipari also visited with Stewart when he was at La Lumiere last week. Stewart — a 6-9 center from Rochester N.Y., and arguably the most dominant big man on the spring Nike circuit — told the Herald-Leader in April that he liked UK’s program and would love to hear more from the Cats. He’s definitely listening, despite cutting his list, and if Calipari keeps it up he might have a shot. Stewart will continue to host college coaches and has not yet set any official visits.
The picks: Duke has long held the advantage on Stewart’s Crystal Ball page, though Brian Snow — an Indiana-based analyst who is listed as the “lead expert” in Stewart’s recruitment on his 247Sports page — recently changed his prediction to “foggy.” The recent Rivals.com picks were split between Duke and Michigan State.
Oscar Tshiebwe
The latest: Tshiebwe met with Calipari on Monday, and he announced that UK had extended a scholarship offer as a result of that visit. It might have become official then, but, in reality, Tshiebwe has had an open spot in the Cats’ 2019 class since Calipari saw him toward the end of the July evaluation period. Tshiebwe took an official visit to Baylor last weekend, heads to Illinois this weekend, UK next weekend and West Virginia the weekend after that. Head coaches from the other three schools on that list all met with him last week.
The picks: Rivals.com’s Eric Bossi and Corey Evans are both predicting Kentucky — and they explained those picks to the Herald-Leader last week — while West Virginia has been the heavy favorite on Tshiebwe’s Crystal Ball page for months. Expect the Crystal Ball to swing UK’s way soon.
James Wiseman
The latest: As expected, the No. 1-ranked recruit in the country has stayed busy since last weekend, when he wrapped up his official visit to UK on the first day of the fall recruiting period. From there, Wiseman has had in-home visits with Calipari, Penny Hardaway, Bill Self and Bryce Drew, and he’s expected to meet with Florida State coaches Tuesday. The 7-footer also took an unofficial visit to nearby Memphis over the weekend. Wiseman will be at Kansas for an official visit next weekend and has official visits planned next month for Vandy and Florida State. The Vanderbilt official visit is set for UK’s Big Blue Madness weekend, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him hit Lexington that Friday night and then head to his hometown of Nashville.
The picks: Memphis got every prediction in Rivals.com’s panel of experts, and the Tigers continue to roll on Wiseman’s Crystal Ball page. Still, two of the Rivals analysts told the Herald-Leader they wouldn’t be surprised by a UK commitment. And Evan Daniels has told the Herald-Leader recently that he has no plans to change his pro-Wildcats pick anytime soon.
UK targets in the national recruiting rankings
This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 8:59 AM.