UK basketball is watching recruits play this week, including this talented wing
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky basketball is recruiting class of 2027 small forward Moussa Kamissoko.
- 247Sports ranks Kamissoko as the No. 18 overall recruit in the 2027 recruiting class.
- Kamissoko is a 6-foot-8 prospect from New York.
Mark Pope and his Kentucky basketball coaching staff will have plenty of prospects to keep an eye on this week during the final recruiting evaluation period of the summer.
From Thursday through Sunday, college basketball coaches and recruiters are allowed to watch prospects play at NCAA certified events, institutional camps and permissible governing body events. The event with the top billing during this week’s live period is Peach Jam, the season-ending tournament for the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League.
As of Thursday morning, when the live period began, Kentucky had extended scholarship offers to 14 prospects scheduled to play at Peach Jam from the 2027 recruiting class. The Cats already have an early 2027 pledge from five-star small forward Ryan Hampton, and Kentucky is working to build its group of college basketball newcomers for the 2027-28 season around Hampton.
One of the class of 2027 recruits that Pope and company intend to check out at Peach Jam is Moussa Kamissoko, a 6-foot-8 small forward from New York who 247Sports ranks as the No. 18 overall recruit in the rising high school senior class.
Kamissoko announced a scholarship offer from Kentucky in May.
“These past couple months AAU-wise and this winter really highlighted what winning really takes with a team,” Kamissoko told the Herald-Leader in June at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in South Carolina. “I’m starting to become more of a vocal leader and just leading by example.”
Kamissoko’s recruiting profile has grown this spring and summer thanks to his performances on the Nike EYBL circuit with the PSA Cardinals. Entering Thursday’s games at Peach Jam, Kamissoko was averaging 16.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while connecting on 39.1% of his 3-point tries this year on the Nike tour.
Kamissoko — whose tenacious defensive style can be traced back to his upbringing playing street basketball in New York — said he’s also made strides as an offensive creator and scorer.
“My jump shot has been getting better. My 3-ball, off the dribble (shot), mid-post area,” Kamissoko said. “I’ve been working a lot, a lot of key details. And my footwork also.”
The talented wing also shouted out a mindset change that’s helped him elevate his game over the past year.
“Staying on attack mode every time I touch the ball,” Kamissoko said. “And just making other players who I share the floor with better.”
Kamissoko has previously highlighted Louisville, Oklahoma State, Syracuse and Virginia as programs that had consistently been recruiting him. His list of serious college suitors has grown in recent weeks, though, with Kentucky among the schools that’s ramped up its efforts.
As of early June, Kamissoko said he had yet to schedule any official visits, but he was interested in taking a trip to each of Kentucky, Louisville, Oklahoma State and Virginia.
“Coach Pope and Coach (Mo) Williams, they text me dang near every day,” said Kamissoko, who plays prep basketball at Long Island Lutheran in New York. “They just really like how I can guard 1 through 4. They want me to fill out my frame more, but they just want me to continue to do everything on the court.”
It’s been a common refrain this summer to hear Kentucky basketball recruiting targets discuss their relationships with Williams, a two-year college star at Alabama who went on to score more than 10,000 points across 13 NBA seasons and a college head coach at Alabama State and Jackson State before joining the UK program as an assistant in April.
Kamissoko is one of several prospects who have praised Williams’ relationship building.
“(Williams) was in the NBA, and that’s really where I want to get to,” Kamissoko said. “I have to continue to improve in my game, and I feel like he would be a good mentor.”
The first time that Williams spoke to Kamissoko, the UK coach asked the budding basketball talent if he wanted to make it to the NBA one day.
“He said ‘Yeah, I can help you get there,’” Kamissoko said.
With his final season of high school basketball on the horizon, Kamissoko said he can still take his game to another level by increasing his ball pressure as a defender and improving his dribbling skills, among other potential growth areas.
And as his recruitment continues to progress, Kamissoko already has a sense for what will separate a school in pursuit of him.
“I want a coach that lets me play through my mistakes. Also a coach who holds me accountable,” he said. “Just a coach that would really push me.”
