This is a milestone week for star basketball recruits. Who will get a call from Kentucky?
This time of year is a momentous one in the basketball lives of rising high school juniors, who for the first time in their recruitments get to hear directly from college coaches.
The annual date on the NCAA calendar for that contact is June 15, so by 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, the phones of the top prospects in the 2024 class should be buzzing, with coaches at most high-major programs typically wasting zero time to reach out to their top early targets.
It’s an especially important time for recruits on John Calipari’s radar. The Kentucky coach is notoriously deliberate in his approach to recruiting, particularly at these early stages. UK’s coaching staff keeps tabs on high school underclassmen, obviously, but rarely will Calipari extend a scholarship offer prior to the summer before a prospect’s junior year, and Kentucky often won’t show much interest at all until after that June 15 date.
So, it’ll be interesting to see who gets the first contact from Calipari and his UK coaching staff this week. Here’s a look at the top players likely to be on the Wildcats’ call list.
Naas Cunningham
Starting off this list with the unanimous No. 1 player in the 2024 class, Naas Cunningham holds that top spot in the rankings from 247Sports, Rivals.com, ESPN and On3.com. The 6-foot-7 wing from New Jersey is going to play for the new Overtime Elite league this season, but he is not taking a salary from the professional outfit in order to keep his college eligibility intact.
Cunningham’s father, Erik, told the Herald-Leader a couple of weeks ago that the family hadn’t heard anything at all from Kentucky’s coaches, a bit curious seeing as the Wildcats have watched him plenty on the high school and Nike circuits over the past few months. Cunningham’s dad said he did understand that UK moves a bit slower than just about every other program in the country — Duke, Kansas and UCLA are among his many early offers — and the player himself said Kentucky is a program he’s watched extensively growing up.
All that said, Cunningham and his family want to start building meaningful, trusting relationships with college coaches now so they’re comfortable making a decision when the time comes, according to his father. And the 17-year-old said Calipari is a coach he hopes to hear from on or around that June 15 date.
Surely Kentucky will be giving him a call.
Ian Jackson
At No. 2 in the 247Sports composite rankings for the 2024 class is Ian Jackson, a 6-4 shooting guard from Bronx, N.Y., and clearly one of the top players on Kentucky’s radar at this early stage in the process.
Jackson has said that he’s been hearing quite a bit from UK — colleges can reach out to coaches and family members of 2024 recruits before June 15; they just can’t contact players directly — and it makes sense that there would be a little more urgency in this case. The buzz in recruiting circles is that Jackson could very well reclassify to 2023 and play college basketball a season earlier than expected, a scenario that the 17-year-old — who turns 18 in February — is now acknowledging.
Going into the summer, Kentucky and Oregon look like the top teams on Jackson’s list, though other major schools will make a run and the G League and Overtime Elite have reached out, too. MaxPreps.com named Jackson the national sophomore of the year last season, when he averaged 19.8 points per game and led Cardinal Hayes (N.Y.) to a state title. He’s an elite scorer who also projects as a potential lockdown perimeter defender at the next level.
Calipari is looking for at least three dynamic backcourt players in the 2023 cycle. He already has a commitment from Reed Sheppard. Five-star combo guard Robert Dillingham could be next. And Jackson makes a lot of sense as a possible addition, especially if the Cats miss out on star senior DJ Wagner over the next few months.
Tre Johnson
Kentucky has had a ton of success recruiting the state of Texas in recent years, and Tre Johnson — the No. 3 overall prospect in the 2024 class — is next in line from that territory.
The 6-5 shooting guard from the Dallas area has already drawn Devin Booker comparisons for his outside shooting abilities and overall scoring prowess. He averaged 23.7 points per game as a high school sophomore, a season that included 37-point and 39-point performances against a top-ranked team led by Kentucky signee Cason Wallace. (And Calipari was courtside for one of those games).
Jai Lucas had been UK’s lead recruiter for Johnson, but the prospect’s father — former Baylor player Richard Johnson — told the Herald-Leader a couple of weeks ago that there had been no contact from Kentucky’s staff since Lucas’ departure. Now that Texas-connected K.T. Turner is officially part of the Wildcats’ coaching staff, however, expect things to ramp back up with Johnson, who should be hearing directly from Kentucky later this week.
Karter Knox
His last name should sound familiar. Karter Knox is the younger brother of former Kentucky star Kevin Knox, and he’s also established himself as one of the top 10 players in the 2024 class. Knox’s father told the Herald-Leader recently that Kentucky’s coaches — mainly Calipari and top assistant Orlando Antigua — have remained in steady contact with him over the past few months, and the entire family has spoken highly of their previous experience with UK.
“We’re family,” Kevin Knox Sr. told the Herald-Leader of their relationship with Calipari.
The newest Knox recruit — Karter is six years younger than Kevin — said he was in Lexington just about every weekend while his older brother starred for the Wildcats, and he returned to town last fall for a visit to Big Blue Madness (his first and only recruiting trip so far). The 6-6ish wing might be even better than his highly touted brother at this stage in the process, and Knox Sr. said they’ve been working on developing his defensive skills to better prepare him for college.
Expect Kentucky to be a player in this recruitment, but it’s no certainty that he’ll end up in Lexington just because of the family tie. Knox Sr. said his youngest son “wants to carve out a niche for himself” during his basketball career. One interesting option will be Louisville, which extended a scholarship offer May 31. New U of L Coach Kenny Payne played an integral role in Kevin Knox’s recruitment and development at Kentucky — then coached him again with the New York Knicks — so the family will also have close ties to UK’s in-state rival.
Amier Ali
As of now, Amier Ali is a little further down the rankings — No. 35 on the 247Sports composite list — but it sounds like he might be in for a bump, and it’s looking like there’s substantial mutual interest with Kentucky.
Ali — a 6-8 wing from Texas — was named the top underclassman following the first Nike EYBL stop this spring. He’s since said that Kentucky is the school that has been inquiring about his recruitment the most, a possible sign of things to come. Ali, whose family is from Somalia, was born in Philadelphia, spent several years in the Columbus, Ohio, area before moving to Texas, and most recently played for Montverde Academy (Fla.), so geography likely won’t be a factor in his college selection process.
National recruiting analyst Eric Bossi gave Ali a rave review following his showing at the Pangos All-American Camp just last week, and he’s looking like a player who could jump to the top of Kentucky’s 2024 list as this process continues.
2024 recruits to watch
This is by no means an exhaustive list — things can and will change in recruiting, especially at this early stage — but here are a few other top-20 players that have already been linked to Kentucky. We’ll see who gets a call from the Cats later this week …
▪ Derik Queen is a 6-9 center from Baltimore who has called Kentucky his “dream school” growing up and is the No. 6 overall player in the 247Sports composite rankings for 2024.
▪ Elliot Cadeau is a 6-1 point guard from New Jersey and arguably the top playmaker in the class. He has already received offers from Maryland, Syracuse, Tennessee and Texas Tech, with Kentucky mentioned as a possible suitor. It looks like Texas Tech and Tennessee will get his first two official visits. He’s ranked No. 7 in the class.
▪ Trentyn Flowers is a 6-8 small forward who played last season at nearby Huntington Prep (W.Va.) and will move to Sierra Canyon (Calif.) — alma mater of Brandon Boston Jr. — for his upcoming junior year. The No. 8 player in the 2024 composite rankings is getting plenty of blue-blood interest, with Kentucky, Duke, Kansas and North Carolina all reaching out so far.
▪ Boogie Fland is a 6-3 point guard from New York City, and Kentucky’s coaches watched him play during the high school season. He’s No. 13 in the composite rankings with offers from Kansas, UCLA, Indiana, Michigan and several others.
▪ Jarin Stevenson is a 6-8 power forward who ranks No. 16 on the 2024 composite list. The Herald-Leader was told he was hoping to visit Kentucky late last month while the Nike EYBL circuit was in Louisville, but those plans fell through. There’s definite interest in UK here, but his mother played basketball for North Carolina, the family lives in the Chapel Hill area, and the Tar Heels have already extended a scholarship offer.
▪ Jahki Howard is a 6-6 shooting guard from the Atlanta area who now plays for the Kanye West-backed Donda Academy in California. He’s been in contact with Kentucky, and an offer from the Wildcats could put them in an enviable position for the No. 17 player in the class.
▪ Ryan Jones is a 6-8 power forward from Gainesville, Fla., the No. 18 recruit in the class, and a player who has already been in contact with Kentucky’s coaches. The versatile forward should definitely be viewed as a prospect to watch as UK looks at 2024 frontcourt options.
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
