Five-star basketball recruit from France is on Kentucky’s radar for next season
Less than a month removed from college basketball’s early signing period, Kentucky’s 2020 recruiting board has already gone through quite a transformation.
Coming out of that early period — when UK signed six top-50 players for next season — it appeared that five-star power forward Greg Brown and four-star center Cliff Omoruyi were the only serious targets on the Wildcats’ recruiting list to close the 2020 cycle.
A handful of 2021 prospects that had often been mentioned as reclassification candidates — including No. 1-ranked junior Jonathan Kuminga — were still on the radar. The possibility of another graduate transfer following this season has also been seen as an option.
But Brown and Omoruyi were the only uncommitted 2020 recruits with UK scholarship offers entering the winter. The target list is growing. The ultimate outcome seems inevitable.
“Kentucky is going to add another guy,” Rivals.com’s Corey Evans told the Herald-Leader on Thursday. “It’s a matter of, ‘How many?’ and, ‘Who is it going to be?’”
In the past few weeks alone, four-star forward JT Thor has re-emerged as a possible Kentucky target, Philippines basketball star Kai Sotto has popped up in Lexington for a visit, and, most recently, top-10 recruit Moussa Diabate has confirmed that he’s seriously thinking about a move from the 2021 class to 2020, which would allow him to play college ball next season.
Kentucky is obviously still planning for a scenario in which EJ Montgomery, Nick Richards and Nate Sestina all depart the program after this season, leaving incoming recruits Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware — both 6-foot-9 power forwards — as the only frontcourt players on the UK roster.
Here’s the latest on the Wildcats’ options to fill those positions.
Moussa Diabate
A 6-foot-10 post player from France — and now living in Florida — Diabate said this week that a move to the 2020 class is still possible. Rivals.com ranks Diabate as the No. 10 overall player in the 2021 class, and he turns 18 years old next month — making him an intriguing reclassification candidate for any major program looking to fill a frontcourt hole.
Diabate averaged 11.2 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while playing for France in the FIBA U18 European championships this past summer and was also named by Rivals as one of the standout players at the prestigious NBPA Top 100 Camp in June.
“I think he’s transformed over the past five, six months from being a rim-runner, low-post guy that can face the basket a little bit to, now, being a face-up power forward that can handle the basketball and can shoot it some,” Rivals.com’s Corey Evans told the Herald-Leader. “He’s a gifted athlete. He has long arms. He can guard all over the place. You have to love his placement in today’s game, with versatility in mind. His progressions have been tremendous, and that’s why he’s a top-10 prospect in that ‘21 class.”
Diabate told Rivals that Florida, Memphis and Michigan were among the schools that have been in contact with him the most, but the Herald-Leader was told Thursday that Kentucky also has serious interest in his recruitment and has been aware of the possibility that he could move to the 2020 class.
Now in his first season at IMG Academy (Fla.), Diabate hosted Kentucky for a recruiting visit during the opening days of the fall recruiting period in September, and the Wildcats are expected to remain in contact with the promising frontcourt prospect going forward.
Evans described Diabate as a mature, self-aware individual who is taking a deliberative approach to his reclassification decision.
“From speaking with him, I don’t think he really wants to make the move,” he said. “I think he doesn’t feel like he’s ready for the move. But, if he feels comfortable by the time summer comes … I think it’s more about his confidence, his comfortability, and just whether or not he feels like he’s entirely ready for college basketball.”
Evans did note that IMG Academy has already made great strides in improving Diabate from a physical standpoint, adding strength to his frame and athleticism to his game. He said any kind of college decision is likely months away and expects Diabate to play the spring and summer travel circuit next year as he weighs whether or not to make the jump to 2020.
That would leave Kentucky with plenty of time to gain a solid position in his recruitment.
Kai Sotto
The surprise recruiting visit to Kentucky on Monday was an interesting next step in the process for Sotto, a 7-foot-2 center from the Philippines who came to the United States this year with the goal of training up to a future in the NBA.
College basketball didn’t appear to be a part of those plans at the time, but it now appears that Sotto and his family are taking a more serious look at that route.
After visiting UK on Monday, he was on Georgia Tech’s campus for a recruiting visit Wednesday and hosted DePaul Coach Dave Leitao for an in-home visit later that night. Several other schools are now pursuing him.
Sotto is competing this season for The Skill Factory — a prep team located in Atlanta — and Rivals.com’s Corey Evans evaluated him at last month’s National Prep Showcase.
“I thought he was a very, very skilled, durable 7-footer,” he told the Herald-Leader. “He’s someone that can lead the break, handle the basketball — he’s skilled. You have to like his mobility, for someone of his size.”
Sotto will be listed in the next update to the Rivals.com rankings for the 2020 class, but it’s unclear exactly where he’ll be placed on that list. Evans said consistency has been an issue with the international prospect, noting that Sotto looked like a five-star recruit in one game at the Prep Showcase and a mid-major prospect in the next. Rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi will also get to evaluate Sotto later this month.
“The talent is definitely there,” Evans said. “I would say he’s definitely top 50-60, at least, with even more room for growth and better upside.”
Whether or not Sotto ever plays college basketball remains a major question.
From a talent standpoint, Evans said the 7-footer looked like someone who could be “signing for oodles of money overseas” after this season based on his first game at last month’s Prep Showcase. Sotto’s father — a longtime pro basketball player in the Philippines — confirmed this year that his son had received multiple offers from major professional teams in Europe.
There have also been questions raised about possible amateurism eligibility concerns if Sotto chooses the NCAA path, and whether getting cleared to play college basketball would be worth the hassle for a player who — already a star back home — could earn major endorsement deals and a pro contract as he continues to position himself toward the NBA.
Evans did note, however, that major programs, like Kentucky, are already putting in precious in-season time with the recruitment.
“I don’t think this many schools would be investing this much time on a prospect if they didn’t think that he’d be eligible,” he said. “That’s my vibe.”
JT Thor
When Thor — a 6-10 power forward — released the list of his top five schools back in September, Kentucky was the only school to make the cut without extending a scholarship offer. A few days later, to start the fall recruiting period, UK assistant coach Joel Justus visited the class of 2020 recruit in Georgia.
After that, months went by with no indication that the Cats would be serious suitors in Thor’s recruitment.
More recently, Thor has said that Kentucky has picked up more steam as one of his primary suitors, and the Herald-Leader confirmed this month that UK is indeed still interested in the well-traveled prospect.
Rivals.com’s Corey Evans now thinks that Oklahoma State (the presumed favorite) and Kentucky are the two likeliest landing spots for Thor, who is also considering Georgia and Kansas on his ever-changing list.
“Kentucky is a school that definitely has JT’s eye,” Evans told the Herald-Leader. “I still think that Oklahoma State is going to end up getting him. But it’s way more open than I previously assumed, whether it’s Kentucky (versus) Oklahoma State, or whether Georgia or Kansas or whoever else could jump into the picture. But, I think, for now, one is Oklahoma State, two is Kentucky, and then it’s everybody else.”
Thor — ranked No. 54 nationally by Rivals.com — was born in Omaha, Neb., grew up in Alaska, played last season for Huntington (W.Va.) Prep and is now at Norcross High in the Atlanta area. Evans said he does think Thor will visit UK soon, and — if that trip happens — it will be interesting to see if it results in a scholarship offer to play for the Cats.
Greg Brown
At No. 7 overall in the Rivals 2020 rankings, Brown is the top-rated player still on UK’s radar for next season. Texas, however, remains the major favorite in recruiting circles.
One narrative coming into the season said that if Longhorns Coach Shaka Smart, who has zero NCAA Tournament wins in four-plus years with the school, had a solid season, Brown would end up at Texas, where his father was once a major football star. That narrative also said that if the Longhorns faltered, it could lead to a coaching change that might send Brown elsewhere, with UK and Memphis being the two most likely alternatives.
So far this season, Texas has an 8-1 record with an early victory over then-ranked Purdue and a lone loss to Georgetown. The Longhorns are among the teams receiving votes in the latest Associated Press poll and will soon face Big 12 competition that includes just two teams ranked in the Top 25.
Meanwhile, the behind-the-scenes buzz regarding Brown’s recruitment is even more in favor of Texas than when the season began a few weeks ago. He is expected to take an official visit to UK next month and probably won’t announce a final decision until the spring.
Cliff Omoruyi
The story remains the same with Omoruyi, the 6-10 center from Nigeria — now playing in New Jersey — who earned a UK scholarship offer earlier this year.
No one knows what he’s going to do.
Omoruyi recently cut his list to eight schools: Kentucky, Arizona State, Auburn, Memphis, Miami, North Carolina State, Rutgers and UConn.
He is not expected to take any more official visits until after his senior season, which doesn’t start until next week. It’s unlikely that any college decision will come until the spring, and there’s still no clear sense among recruiting experts on a leader for his commitment.
Rivals ranks Omoruyi as the No. 55 overall player in the 2020 class.
