Kentucky is making a big recruiting push for the top player in the 2027 class
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball is recruiting CJ Rosser, the top-ranked player in the 2027 recruiting class.
- Rosser is a 6-foot-10 power forward who is originally from North Carolina.
- Kentucky coach Mark Pope watched Rosser play recently on the Nike basketball circuit.
Kentucky basketball’s top recruiting priorities for the 2027 class came into focus this past weekend.
From Friday to Sunday, college coaches were permitted to watch top college prospects play on travel basketball circuits as part of the May evaluation period.
UK utilized all the current members of its coaching staff in this pursuit, with head coach Mark Pope joined by assistants Mark Fox, Cody Fueger, Mikhail McLean, Mo Williams and director of operations Nick Robinson on the recruiting trail.
But after sorting through the details of which prospects were watched by Kentucky, one thing becomes clear.
CJ Rosser is a top priority — perhaps the top priority — for the Cats in the 2027 recruiting group.
Rosser is a 6-foot-10 power forward who is originally from North Carolina. The 247Sports Composite currently ranks Rosser as the No. 1 recruit in the 2027 class, although several players are in the mix to ultimately claim that title.
Kentucky had a strong recruiting presence over the weekend at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League grassroots event here, where Rosser was in action with his Team United squad.
Fueger, McLean, Pope and Williams were all in town watching games. And each time Rosser — who is averaging 12.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game through two Nike EYBL sessions — took the floor, multiple UK coaches were close by watching from the sideline.
“I’ve got to improve on everything, for real,” Rosser told the Herald-Leader on Saturday afternoon. “Just keep working on my game... Just try and improve every day, get better every day.”
The Cats have already invested a lot of energy and time into building a relationship with Rosser, who earned his Kentucky scholarship offer in May 2025. Rosser was the first 2027 player to earn a UK scholarship offer. The Cats have offered 10 since.
UK has communicated serious recruiting interest to Rosser for a full year now, including when McLean made an international trip to watch Rosser win a gold medal last summer with USA Basketball at the FIBA Under-16 Men’s AmeriCup in Mexico.
Kentucky’s pursuit of Rosser also hit an important milestone in February, when Rosser took an unofficial visit to UK on Feb. 4, watching the Cats’ home win over Oklahoma.
Rosser has developed as a player during his year-long courtship by Kentucky. Prior to his junior year, Rosser transferred from his home state of North Carolina to Southeastern Prep in Orlando, Florida.
At Southeastern Prep, Rosser shared the floor this past season with a plethora of talented players who will suit up against Kentucky next season, including five-star center Obinna Ekezie Jr. (a former UK target who will play for Louisville), five-star power forward Toni Bryant (a Missouri signee) and five-star small forward Jaxon Richardson (an Alabama commit).
Beckham Black — the top-ranked point guard in the 2027 recruiting class and a major UK target — also plays at Southeastern.
“Lifting a lot, the physicality and just getting to play all those games,” Rosser said of his development at Southeastern, which reached the championship game in its Grind Session league.
In April, the Herald-Leader asked Black about the fact that several players at Southeastern — including Rosser and himself Rosser — are being recruited by the same college programs, such as Kentucky.
“We all kind of talk about it. What we’re looking for and where we want to go,” Black said. “Talk about what schools might be better for the different type of players that we are, so just little things like that.
Kentucky is angling to distinguish itself from the pack in Rosser’s recruitment. That much was clear in April when Pope and McLean took a recruiting trip to visit and go fishing with Rosser.
But Rosser is employing a patient approach with his college recruitment, which involves plenty of top schools aside from Kentucky. The list of high-major coaches who watched Rosser play this past weekend in Memphis included representatives from Alabama, Maryland, Michigan and North Carolina, among other programs.
Rosser said that while the hype surrounding his game can be both a good and a bad thing, he uses a game-by-game approach to keep raising his level.
“Really just going out and just trying to improve every game... Just go win,” Rosser said.
