Calipari seeks energy and ‘fight.’ Which recruits fit that description?

In response to a question two weeks ago about how much he was enjoying coaching his current team, John Calipari launched into an answer that included more than 1,000 words and hit on several different topics.

To summarize the meat of those thoughts:

1.) Calipari likes his team.

2.) Calipari likes his team, specifically, because these players are already showing up to practice with the right mindset, and that’s not always the case with young squads.

“When you don’t have to coach effort, when you don’t have to coach the enthusiasm, the passion you have to play with, when you don’t have to coach a competitive spirit, ‘Fight. Go. Come on. Dive on that’ — I don’t have to coach that with this team. So now you know what you’re coaching? Basketball. … I love coaching basketball.

“That’s what you look (for): fight like heck on this court. Make each other better. Compete. You try to beat him every day, he’s trying to beat you every day. If he’s beating you, you’d better get in the gym more because eventually he’s going to leave you in the dust. Yet, when it’s over, we’re all together. We’re family. And that’s how they’ve been doing it.”

Calipari and his coaching staff look for these attributes — total effort, an eagerness to compete, etc. — when they’re out on the recruiting trail. That raises the question: which recruits in the class of 2019 best fit that description?

The Herald-Leader asked national analysts Evan Daniels of 247Sports and Corey Evans of Rivals.com to come up with a few such prospects, and both recruiting experts immediately mentioned the same player first.

“Isaiah Stewart is 1, 2 and 3,” Evans said. “He’s one of the hardest-playing guys in America, and his production reflects that.”

“You don’t have to coach that dude to play hard,” Daniels said after naming Stewart first. “He’s strong, he’s active, he’s aggressive, he’s physical, he runs, and he’s consistent. I think Isaiah Stewart is as consistent as it gets when it comes to post players in the 2019 class. He brings it on the glass, and that type of rebounding translates.

“I think he’s as hard of a playing prospect as there is in 2019.”

Stewart is also squarely on UK’s recruiting radar.

The 6-foot-9 post prospect — originally from Rochester, N.Y. — took an official visit to Kentucky late last month, and Calipari was at his Indiana high school Tuesday for another visit. His play on the Nike circuit this year earned him first-team all-league honors, and he’s now considered the No. 5 overall prospect in the class of 2019 composite rankings.

“He’s just a beast — I think that’s basically what it comes down to,” his Nike teammate Joe Girard, a recent Syracuse commitment, told the Herald-Leader during the spring. “He’s got the highest motor I’ve ever seen, and he just runs the floor like a wild man. There’s no stopping him, and the way he goes up and down the floor is unreal. He’s a really big kid who throws a lot of other kids out of the paint. … He’s just phenomenal.”

Stewart has also taken official visits to Michigan State, Syracuse and Washington, and an official visit to Duke could be coming up soon. He’s expected to sign with a school next month.

Daniels also mentioned No. 1-ranked guard Cole Anthony as one of 2019’s top competitors.

“He competes when he’s on the court,” Daniels said. “He brings effort and energy at both ends of the floor. And he’s consistent with it. He doesn’t take plays off. He plays hard. And he’s relentless and aggressive — that’s his playing style.”

Anthony — a 6-3 guard at Oak Hill Academy (Va.) — has UK on his current list of 12 schools, but he’s expected to announce a narrowed list sometime soon, and it might be a surprise if the Wildcats make that group.

More possible bad news as Calipari looks for high-motor players in the 2019 class: Evans mentioned a pair of prospects who recently turned down UK — Florida commitment Scottie Lewis and West Virginia commitment Oscar Tshiebwe — as two of the most competitive stars in the class.

“Any time you talk about motor, you have to bring up Oscar Tshiebwe,” he said. “Every time he hits the floor, you know what you’re going to get from him.”

Lewis, who picked the Gators over UK this month, has long been known for his effort.

“He can get better skill-wise, but the one thing that we know about him is he competes his a-- off, and that’s why he’s a five-star prospect,” Evans said.

The Cats are getting at least one player like that in this 2019 class.

Evans’ final high-motor pick was Kahlil Whitney, a 6-7 wing who committed to Kentucky this fall and has emerged as a possible top-five national recruit after turning up his energy level in recent months.

“Kahlil, it’s funny, because they always talk about that light turning on,” Evans said. “He was a guy that, two years ago — I don’t want to call him an enigma — but he was so polarizing. He had so much talent, but it wasn’t always there. And then, out of nowhere, this spring, it all turned on. Every time he hits the floor, it’s, ‘I’m going right at you.’

“I think he definitely fits the mold of that guy that Cal is talking about.”