His dad played for John Calipari. Now, the son is taking an official visit to UK.

The NCAA Division I men’s basketball recruiting calendar has shifted into a “recruiting period.”

This means that authorized staff members from a school’s athletics department can make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations.

With the exception of a few days in early November and late December, the calendar will remain in a recruiting period through March.

This means you can expect to see plenty of updates on where John Calipari and his UK men’s basketball coaching staff are traveling in pursuit of top recruits.

But while some focus will be on where Cal and his assistant coaches are going, plenty of interest also remains here in Lexington, where Kentucky will be hosting several players this fall on recruiting visits.

After Boogie Fland — one of the top combo guards in the 2024 recruiting class — visited UK last weekend, another top 2024 player is visiting this weekend.

Class of 2024 wing Billy Richmond will be on an official visit to Kentucky this weekend, and he should already be familiar with Calipari’s recruiting pitch.

Richmond’s father, Billy Richmond Sr., played for Calipari at Memphis in the early 2000s, after transferring to that program from Vanderbilt.

Additionally, Richmond plays his high school basketball at Camden (New Jersey) High School, and was a high school teammate last season of current Wildcats Aaron Bradshaw and D.J. Wagner.

Wagner’s father also played for Calipari at Memphis.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Richmond is a four-star prospect who ranks as the No. 31 overall player in the class of 2024.

Billy Richmond recruitment history

Kentucky extended a scholarship offer to Richmond at the tail end of 2022.

In August, Richmond cut his list of schools under consideration to eight, with the Wildcats making the cut.

That top eight list in full?

Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Memphis, Miami and Texas.

To begin his senior year, Richmond is making it a point to take an up-close look at several of these programs.

Last weekend, Richmond took an official visit to LSU.

Later this month, Richmond will be taking an official visit to Memphis. He also has visits scheduled with Kansas and Alabama in October.

These five trips represent all the official visits Richmond has taken or scheduled.

The Tigers in particular are viewed as a real contender for Richmond: As previously mentioned, Richmond’s father played under Calipari at Memphis.

While the elder Richmond was ultimately dismissed from the Memphis program, he remains in the city as the founder and CEO of The Wing Guru, a popular burger and wings restaurant chain.

According to The Commercial Appeal, Calipari has ordered postgame food from the restaurant for his UK teams before.

Prior to transferring to Camden High School, Richmond was a local prep standout at East High School in Memphis.

But Richmond has already made an impression here in Central Kentucky.

In February, a star-studded Camden team played a game in Frankfort in which Richmond scored 15 points as part of a dominant Camden win.

More recently over the spring and summer, Richmond was a central presence for the NJ Scholars travel basketball team on the Nike EYBL circuit, which was the same team both Bradshaw and Wagner played for.

Official visits for Kentucky men’s basketball recruits will continue through the fall, with Big Blue Madness on Oct. 13 set to be the setting for several high-profile visitors.

This story was originally published September 15, 2023 at 7:00 AM.

Cameron Drummond

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-242-5257

Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas. Support my work with a digital subscription