Should Kentucky basketball fans be expecting a recruiting superclass for 2022?
With the summer basketball circuits effectively finished and some major recruiting decisions seemingly on the horizon, an expectation has formed around Kentucky’s class of 2022.
That expectation is a return to the recruiting greatness of the earliest years of the John Calipari era.
Five-star point guard Skyy Clark is already committed and eligible to officially sign with the Cats in November. He almost certainly won’t be alone when that early signing period — scheduled for Nov. 10-17 — arrives.
Who will join him in Kentucky’s 2022 class?
One expectation — a popular one in recruiting circles at the moment — is that UK will also be able to land five-star centers Dereck Lively II and Adem Bona, five-star shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe and one of two five-star combo guards: Nick Smith Jr. or Cason Wallace.
Such a haul would give Kentucky five total five-star recruits, with Lively and Sharpe both in the conversation for the No. 1 overall ranking in the 2022 class. On paper, that would be one of Calipari’s best classes ever at Kentucky.
Is it realistic?
“To expect all of them — I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s fair at this point,” said Travis Branham, a top recruiting analyst at 247Sports.
That’s not to say such a superclass won’t ultimately come together for the Cats.
“I do think they’re in great position with Sharpe. He will be putting on a Kentucky jersey next season,” Branham said. “Bona, I think he also is in a great spot with Kentucky, and I do think he will end up with Kentucky.”
Sharpe — a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Canada — is No. 6 in the current 247Sports rankings, but Branham and others have said that he will be in the conversation for the No. 1 spot when those lists are updated following a breakout summer on the Nike circuit. He could commit to UK as early as this month.
Bona — a 6-10 center, originally from Nigeria and now living in California — is No. 7 in those 247Sports rankings. He will take an official visit to UK later this month and is expected to land a scholarship offer during that trip. If the Cats do indeed offer, they will be considered heavy favorites for Bona’s commitment.
Wallace and Smith — both 6-4 guards, from Texas and Arkansas, respectively — received UK offers last month. Both will take official visits to Kentucky in the coming weeks. Is one more likely than the other to pick the Cats?
“I would lean toward Cason Wallace,” Branham said. “I think they will be the leaders for him. After that offer came through, I think that kind of catapulted them up. They’ll be able to pick up some good momentum with Cason Wallace, especially when they’re able to get him on a visit. I expect Texas to make a really strong push for Cason. And Tennessee is also in a good spot — they’ve been on him really hard for a while now. So it’s going to be a three-team race for him, and I think Kentucky is going to be in a good spot.”
Along with Clark — the No. 13 player in the 247Sports rankings — that would give Kentucky four top-20 national recruits.
The biggest addition, however, could be Lively, and he might also be the toughest to predict at this stage in the process. The versatile, 7-2 center from Pennsylvania ascended to the No. 1 overall spot in the 247Sports rankings after Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates reclassified to 2021 this summer.
Lively’s play over the summer backed up that potential No. 1 ranking and cemented him as Kentucky’s top frontcourt target for next season. Branham said it would be fair for UK fans to expect Sharpe, Bona and possibly even Wallace to eventually join the Wildcats’ class.
“Now, Lively — to expect him to be at Kentucky, I think that’s a little bit ambitious at this point,” he said. “They are in a great spot with him. But so is Duke. And Michigan is trying to make a push, as well. So to classify a leader there at this point, I wouldn’t be able to. I think it’s very much a Kentucky-Duke battle at the top. And I think he’s going to wait — probably until the early signing period — to make his decision.”
Lively took recruiting visits to Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and Penn State this summer, and he also has Florida State, Michigan and Southern Cal on his list. His mother told the Herald-Leader recently that Lively would take a break from recruiting in August and then reassess things once school starts back early next month. Branham said he expects Lively to take some additional visits — possibly some return trips to schools he has already seen — and perhaps be ready to make a college decision in the early signing period that begins Nov. 10.
The last time Kentucky landed three top-10 recruits in the same class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, was 2013, when the Cats had five such players (and six McDonald’s All-Americans).
If Kentucky can land Lively — and the rest of the 2022 plans fall into place — Calipari could be looking at another superclass.
Other Kentucky recruiting targets
The only other uncommitted players with a Kentucky scholarship offer in the 2022 class are point guard Jaden Bradley, wing Chris Livingston and forward Brandon Miller.
Livingston and Miller both visited UK in June, and Bradley has been planning to take an official visit to Lexington this fall, but the Wildcats don’t look like favorites for any of those players.
Branham has Alabama pegged as the favorite for Bradley, who was one of the first 2022 recruits to land a Kentucky offer but hasn’t had much UK buzz around him in recent months. Branham added that he thinks Bama is also the favorite for Nick Smith Jr. — regardless of what Cason Wallace does — as well as Jarace Walker, the No. 10 player in the 247Sports rankings. That would give Coach Nate Oats quite the 2022 recruiting haul.
Livingston — a 6-6 wing from Akron, Ohio — is another player that will be in the No. 1 ranking conversation. His recruitment is a bit up in the air.
“Chris Livingston, I can’t get a gauge on. That one has been really difficult,” Branham said. “Obviously, coming into everything, it was expected that he would go pro. I still think that’s a very viable option. But he’s also really getting his feet wet with this recruitment, taking some visits.”
Livingston has talked about a fall announcement, but there are no Crystal Ball predictions yet on his 247Sports page. Memphis has been mentioned as a legitimate possibility, and the pro option will continue to loom large.
Miller is no longer expected to play college basketball. Branham said all of the information related to his recruitment over the past few weeks indicates he will go the pro route. “I don’t think there’s much desire for him to go to school,” he added.
High school recruits will be allowed to take campus visits again starting Monday, with no more dead periods on the recruiting calendar until the week of the early signing period in November. College coaches will be permitted to travel for in-home and in-school visits — for the first time since March 2020 — starting Sept. 9.
