After visiting twice, what does this recruit think about UK basketball?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky basketball continues to recruit class of 2026 prospect Anthony Thompson.
- Thompson is a small forward from Ohio.
- Last season, Thompson made two visits to the UK basketball program.
Anthony Thompson is more knowledgeable than most recruits about the direction of the UK basketball program.
Thompson — a 6-foot-8 small forward from Ohio who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star recruit in the 2026 class — twice took time last season to check out Mark Pope and the Wildcats.
First, Thompson was a visitor for Big Blue Madness last October, a landmark event prior to Pope’s first season as the UK coach. Last year’s Madness was highlighted by a grand Rupp Arena return for former Kentucky coach Rick Pitino.
Thompson was one of only a handful of recruits at last year’s Big Blue Madness, with class of 2025 point guard Acaden Lewis being the top visitor. (Lewis was signed to play at Kentucky before decommitting in April. He will instead play at Villanova).
Thompson made that trek to Lexington for Big Blue Madness even though he, at the time, didn’t have a Kentucky scholarship offer. That quickly changed though, as Pope and his coaching staff extended a scholarship offer to Thompson that weekend.
The Cats clearly made a good impression on Thompson. He returned for another Rupp Arena visit in January to watch Kentucky’s home SEC win over Florida, the eventual national champions.
“Yeah, I mean it’s a great experience. Obviously, all the fans,” Thompson said Wednesday afternoon while at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Rock Hill, South Carolina. “... It was really fun to be there.”
The good vibes have continued between Thompson and UK. Kentucky is one of the schools included in Thompson’s top-15 list, which he released in late April.
That list in full?
Thompson, a prospect who is teeming with length, is set to decide from the following schools: Auburn, BYU, Georgetown, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Texas and Xavier.
Coaches representing those programs, and plenty of others, were on hand in Rock Hill this week to watch Thompson and other top prospects in action at the NBPA Top 100 Camp. Coaches were permitted to attend the event Wednesday and Thursday as part of an NCAA evaluation period. Pope and three assistants — Alvin Brooks III, Cody Fueger and Jason Hart — represented UK at the event.
Thompson is one of 11 players in the 2026 recruiting group to whom Kentucky has extended a scholarship offer. But, the Wildcats don’t have any commits, yet, from the rising high school senior class.
Thompson, who is ranked as the No. 11 national recruit in the 2026 class, said he would envision a role for himself at Kentucky that’s similar to the one Jaxson Robinson had last season.
In his lone campaign as a Wildcat, Robinson averaged 13.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 28 minutes per game. Robinson also shot a career-best 37.6% on 3-pointers, before his fifth and final college season ended early due to a right wrist injury.
“I feel like I’d probably play similar to Jaxson Robinson... A lot of pick and rolls,” Thompson said. “I think watching them play, I kind of got a good feel for how their offense (operates).”
Thompson, who plays prep basketball at Western Reserve Academy near Akron, Ohio, has yet to take an official visit as part of his recruitment. He said Wednesday that he’s beginning the process of scheduling and setting up those visits.
As far as a commitment timeline goes, Thompson indicated that he’d like to make his college decision before the start of his senior high school season. Currently, a commitment in October or November is what Thompson is thinking.
Before that though, he plans to make another cut to his list of final schools during the next few weeks.
Last month, Thompson signed an NIL endorsement deal with Adidas. Thompson plays AAU basketball on the Adidas 3Stripes Select Basketball circuit for Indiana Elite, where he’s averaging 19.8 points and 1.8 blocks per game this season.
Thompson is also fresh off an appearance at the 2025 Adidas EuroCamp in Italy. In that event, Thompson was teammates on the 3SSB squad with Caleb Holt and Taylen Kinney, two other top recruiting targets for Kentucky in the 2026 class.
While this brand connection should be noted, it doesn’t have to be a determining factor in Thompson’s recruitment.
Case in point? Incoming UK freshman Malachi Moreno and former Kentucky player Travis Perry both also played on the Adidas circuit for Indiana Elite. In fact, the 2024 3SSB team that participated in that year’s Adidas EuroCamp featured all four of Holt, Kinney, Moreno and Thompson.
