Here are the star recruits most likely to join Reed Sheppard in Kentucky’s 2023 class
Kentucky started off its basketball recruiting class of 2023 in a big way Saturday morning, securing an early commitment from five-star prospect and UK legacy Reed Sheppard.
The Cats appear to be in a prime position to land the No. 1 class for the 2023 cycle, and they’ve already hosted each of the top five prospects in that group for official visits to Lexington this fall, extending scholarship offers to all of those players.
Sheppard — a 6-foot-3 guard from North Laurel High School — is the No. 17 junior nationally, according to the 247Sports rankings. Here’s who could join him in Kentucky’s 2023 recruiting class, starting with the other players who have early offers from John Calipari.
DJ Wagner
Need to know: He’s the consensus No. 1 recruit in the 2023 class and the son of Dajuan Wagner, who was Calipari’s first one-and-done player at Memphis and remains close to the UK coach. DJ’s grandfather is Louisville basketball great Milt Wagner, and his stepbrother is current UK walk-on Kareem Watkins. He was also high school teammates with Kentucky’s Lance Ware, who was mentored by Wagner’s AAU coach: U of L legend Pervis Ellison.
Wagner’s recruitment: The versatile, 6-foot-3 point guard from New Jersey is mature beyond his years and has been considered the No. 1 player in the 2023 class ever since rankings for this group were first posted. He took the first official visits of his recruitment to Kentucky and Memphis, his father’s alma mater, last month. Everyone in recruiting circles seems to think that Wagner will ultimately choose between a professional career straight out of high school or the college basketball path. And if it’s the latter, Kentucky is presumed to be the runaway favorite, thanks to the close family ties to Calipari. Recent name, image and likeness reforms — allowing college athletes to make money while still in school — could be a difference-maker here. Wagner is the type of talent who could earn seven figures in one season at Kentucky while contending for a national championship in what would be Calipari’s 15th season at the school.
Kwame Evans Jr.
Need to know: The No. 2 player in the 247Sports rankings is a Baltimore native now playing for national powerhouse Montverde Academy (Fla.), where Kentucky signee Skyy Clark is spending his senior season.
Evans’ recruitment: Listed at 6-9 and 200 pounds, Evans is a highly versatile forward who has shown perimeter skills but might also develop into a player who can make a major impact close to the basket at the college level. Kentucky was the site of his first official visit two weeks ago, and UK extended a scholarship offer during that trip. The Cats are recruiting several talented forwards in this 2023 class, but Evans has more size than the others on Kentucky’s radar, and his game would seem to complement any of the three elite wing players that come next on this list. Renowned recruiter Orlando Antigua is listed as UK’s lead coach in the pursuit of Evans, who obviously has considerable early interest in the Wildcats.
Mackenzie Mgbako
Need to know: One of DJ Wagner’s teammates on the Nike circuit, Mgbako was one of the top stars of the summer, earning a Kentucky scholarship offer and rising to the No. 3 spot on the 247Sports and Rivals.com lists for 2023.
Mgbako’s recruitment: The 6-7 small forward from New Jersey was one of Kentucky’s very first visitors from the 2023 class. He came to UK for Big Blue Madness last month, when he was one of the featured recruiting guests alongside DJ Wagner and Reed Sheppard. Mgbako is a sensational talent with the potential to rise to the No. 1 spot in his class, but — despite extensive early recruiting efforts by John Calipari and Orlando Antigua — it doesn’t seem like he’ll end up playing for Kentucky. As of now, Duke is getting all the buzz around Mgbako, who also visited Durham this fall.
Mookie Cook
Need to know: Rivals.com ranks Cook as the No. 2 overall player in the 2023 class behind Wagner. The Portland, Ore., native is playing this season for the same Arizona high school program that produced UK freshman TyTy Washington.
Cook’s recruitment: Kentucky looks to be in an enviable position at this early stage of Cook’s recruiting process. The Wildcats had been linked to the dynamic and athletic 6-7 wing even before he made the move to Arizona Compass Prep for his junior season. The interest has only intensified since then, with Kentucky hosting Cook for the first official visit of his recruitment late last month and extending a scholarship offer during that trip. In this new NIL age, it can’t hurt UK’s chances that Washington — a legend to those in the Compass Prep program — is expected to earn seven figures while playing for the Wildcats this season. Cook is ranked even higher as a recruit and has the type of length and athleticism that Calipari loves in his wing players. Kansas, Gonzaga, Michigan, UCLA, Memphis and Arizona are among the many other major programs that have offered, but Kentucky will be one to keep an eye on here.
JJ Taylor
Need to know: One of the very first recruits in the 2023 class to earn a UK scholarship offer. The Chicago native has been recruited by UK assistant coach Chin Coleman since the eighth grade and is the No. 5 overall player in the junior class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. He recently transferred to Donda Academy (Calif.), the new prep school backed by Kanye West.
Taylor’s recruitment: Calipari is notoriously careful when extending UK scholarship offers, often waiting until he has seen a player multiple times in person and met with the recruit and his family. In this case, Calipari took the word of Coleman, who was the first college recruiter to show interest in Taylor, and extended an offer during the summer. Before heading to the college ranks, Coleman was a coach with the Mac Irvin Fire grassroots program that featured Taylor this past season, so there are extensive ties in Kentucky’s favor here. Taylor did leave a high school coached by the Mac Irvin Fire director to transfer to Donda Academy this fall, but there have been no signs yet that the move will impact UK’s chances. Taylor took his first official visit to Kentucky last month, and the Cats are still seen as one of the favorites — perhaps the favorite — in his recruitment.
Robert Dillingham
Need to know: Another new acquisition for the Donda Academy program, Dillingham is a Hickory, N.C., native and places No. 8 in the 247Sports composite rankings for the 2023 class. He led the USA Basketball U16 team to a FIBA gold medal this summer — setting the U16 scoring record in the title game of that event — and is seen as one of the most gifted offensive players in all of high school basketball.
Dillingham’s recruitment: The 6-2 combo guard has taken official visits to Kentucky, Louisiana State, Memphis and North Carolina State this fall, and he dropped a final five earlier this month that featured those four schools and Kansas, which has also offered. The general thinking in recruiting circles is that Dillingham would be committed to Kentucky by now. There was considerable speculation behind the scenes that a UK commitment was going to take place two weeks ago. Obviously, that didn’t happen. The Herald-Leader was told last week that a commitment could still come at any time and that Kentucky was still the team to beat, with N.C. State possibly posing the biggest threat to the Wildcats’ chances. This is a recruitment to monitor closely over the next 2-3 weeks.
Justin Edwards
Need to know: The latest recipient of a Kentucky scholarship offer, Edwards took an official visit to UK over the weekend and landed the offer during that trip. Calipari has been to the Philadelphia native’s high school twice this fall to meet with Edwards, who has previously called Kentucky his dream school growing up.
Edwards’ recruitment: Now that Edwards has been on UK’s campus and the scholarship offer has officially been extended, it’s probably safe to call the Wildcats the favorites. UConn has done a nice job with the 6-7 wing’s recruitment, and other schools have hosted him for unofficial visits — including a trip to Villanova for midnight madness — but this is one that has been leaning UK’s way for a bit now. In fact, the Herald-Leader was told last week that — if Kentucky did indeed extend an offer — Edwards might be ready to make a relatively early commitment. He still has two years of high school to go, so there’s no big rush, but this would be another terrific addition to UK’s 2023 class. Edwards is seen as a versatile, high IQ and unselfish player with a very high floor as a prospect. That versatility and team-first approach would also allow him to play alongside some of the other elite wings on this list with no problems.
Others to watch
Due to Kentucky’s solid positioning with so many high school juniors at this early stage in the 2023 cycle, we’re reserving mention in this category to UK targets who are also listed in the top 20 of the latest 247Sports rankings. Others are on the Wildcats’ radar, but the sheer amount of top-end talent already showing heavy interest in the program suggests that Calipari is likely to land several top-20 commitments in this cycle.
Elijah Fisher: It was reported over the summer that Fisher — a 6-6 shooting guard ranked No. 20 by 247Sports — had actually landed a UK offer, but there has been no public indication this fall that he’s a major Kentucky target and no real updates at all on his recruitment in months. Fisher plays his high school ball in Canada, and that could be a factor in the relative recruiting silence as of late. There’s also been speculation that he could jump straight to the pros.
Matas Buzelis: One of the more intriguing prospects in the 2023 class, Buzelis jumped from No. 43 all the way to No. 4 in the 247Sports rankings after the summer. The 6-10 small forward is a highly versatile perimeter player from the Chicago area who has hosted Kentucky and Duke for visits this fall at Brewster Academy (N.H.), which was Terrence Clarke’s alma mater. Duke has already extended a scholarship offer. Buzelis played for the same Chicago-based Nike program that featured JJ Taylor and was once coached by Chin Coleman, and Calipari traveled to Connecticut on Saturday to see him play.
Baye Fall: The 6-10 center from the Denver area is highly touted — ranked No. 2 overall by ESPN — and he was linked extensively to Kentucky earlier this year, but there hasn’t been as much buzz around Fall and the Wildcats in recent weeks. Part of that might be because he’s taking a little slower approach to his recruitment than some others on this list, with no official visits so far. UK did travel to his high school early in the fall recruiting period, and Fall is the top-ranked center in the class. So, expect to hear more about him.
Kylan Boswell: One of the top point guards in the class and a new high school teammate of Mookie Cook this season, Boswell is now on Kentucky’s recruiting radar and is expected to be the next great playmaker for the Arizona prep program that TyTy Washington put on the map last season. The 6-1 prospect is No. 13 in the 247Sports rankings and has early offers from Arizona, Illinois (his hometown school) and UCLA, among many others.
Ron Holland: The 6-8 power forward from Texas is ranked No. 15 overall by 247Sports, and there’s already mutual interest with the Kentucky coaching staff. UK has obviously done well recruiting Texas in recent years — with the addition of Jai Lucas only helping those efforts — and Holland is the top-ranked junior from the state heading into the winter. He did take an official visit to Memphis this fall, and the Tigers appear to be in a nice spot early on, but Kentucky will be a school to watch moving forward.
Ja’Kobe Walter: UK showed some interest in Walter — an athletic 6-5 shooting guard from Texas, ranked No. 16 in the class — early in the summer, but there hasn’t been much buzz since then. Alabama is making a strong run, and he already has additional scholarship offers from Baylor, Gonzaga, Texas, Kansas, UCLA and several others.
Omaha Biliew: One of the first 2023 recruits to pop up as a possible UK target, Biliew has maintained his spot near the top of the rankings — No. 7 in the 247Sports composite — but the 6-8 power forward from Iowa hasn’t been linked to Kentucky as strongly in recent weeks. He took a few visits this fall. UK wasn’t one of those destinations, but Biliew did tell Rivals.com last week that Kentucky remains one of his top schools.
