UK basketball recruiting: ESPN ranks Justin Edwards at No. 1, Cats offer Naas Cunningham
Even in the immediate aftermath of one of the showcase recruiting events of the year — the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts — news in the college basketball recruiting world hasn’t stopped.
Kentucky’s top 2024 target — shooting guard Ian Jackson — is off the board after his commitment to North Carolina at Hoophall, but there’s still plenty to know about UK’s recruiting efforts for the future, as well as more accolades bestowed upon Kentucky’s top-ranked 2023 recruiting class.
Here’s a look at the top news from the last week in UK basketball recruiting.
Justin Edwards named top player in 2023 class by ESPN
In the same week that Rivals released its new class of 2023 recruiting player rankings, ESPN followed suit.
Both services named new No. 1 overall players in the class, with ESPN giving that distinction to Kentucky signee Justin Edwards, who was previously ranked No. 2 overall in the class by ESPN.
This rankings jump for Edwards came just days after he impressed at the Hoophall Classic against Jackson: Edwards powered his Imhotep Institute (Philadelphia) team to a victory with 26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and four steals.
Kentucky backcourt signee DJ Wagner slotted in at No. 2 overall in the new ESPN rankings, with his high school and travel ball teammate Aaron Bradshaw at No. 4.
UK guard signee Robert Dillingham (who is part of the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta) is the new No. 11 player in the 2023 class, per ESPN, and in-state combo guard Reed Sheppard is ranked No. 21.
This means all five incoming UK players for next season are among the top 21 players in the class, according to “The Worldwide Leader in Sports.”
Louisville has two class of 2023 signees in the new ESPN top 100: small forward Curtis Williams (No. 60) and power forward Kaleb Glenn (No. 78).
In addition to the new rankings, ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony broke down the future pro prospects for several incoming Wildcats.
UK assistant coach Chin Coleman — along with head coach John Calipari and associate coach Orlando Antigua — recently watched four of UK’s incoming recruits play at the Hoophall Classic, and spoke to reporters Monday morning about what he saw from the future Wildcats.
“They’re all pretty good,” Coleman said. “They’re all pretty special in their own way. There’s a lot of good things that they’re all doing that will probably complement each other really well.”
Kentucky offers scholarship to Naas Cunningham
With Ian Jackson now off the board for the Cats in the 2024 class, John Calipari is beginning to turn his attention to other players in the junior class.
This includes someone with a newly received Kentucky scholarship offer and an existing connection to an incoming Wildcat.
Small forward Naas Cunningham — a class of 2024 small forward who is part of the Overtime Elite program — announced a scholarship offer from the Wildcats on Wednesday afternoon.
Cunningham is ranked as the No. 3 overall player in the class of 2024 by the 247Sports Composite.
The 6-7, 180-pound Cunningham plays for the Cold Hearts team in OTE, which means he’s a teammate of UK 2023 signee Robert Dillingham.
The wing was previously ranked as the No. 1 player in the class of 2024 by Rivals, 247Sports, ESPN and On3.com, and was the first high school standout to sign with OTE as a scholarship player (forgoing a salary in order to retain his college eligibility).
According to 247Sports, Cunningham now has 19 scholarship offers.
Tahaad Pettiford to commit in less than two weeks
Another backcourt player in the class of 2024 is set to come off the board in less than two weeks.
And once again, it looks like Kentucky will not be the choice.
Tahaad Pettiford — a point guard who is ranked as the No. 21 overall player in the class of 2024 by the 247Sports Composite — has announced he will make his college commitment on Feb. 1.
Pettiford, who is from New Jersey, previously announced his final list of seven schools: Auburn, Kansas, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Seton Hall, UConn and UCLA.
But it’s highly unlikely the Wildcats will land Pettiford.
Pettiford’s lone junior year college visit came on Sept. 17 to Auburn.
After initially saying he planned to make his college commitment in April — with a potential visit to UK before then — Pettiford has since drastically sped up his timeline. He’ll now be committing at the start of February, and no UK visit will come before then.
Pettiford hasn’t played yet during his junior season after suffering a torn meniscus and undergoing knee surgery.
With the likes of Jackson and Pettiford likely out of the conversation for Kentucky in 2024, Calipari and the Cats will shift their future focus to other backcourt players, such as Boogie Fland and Tre Johnson.
This story was originally published January 23, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
