Departures end waiting game for Kentucky recruits to make their decisions

Seven University of Kentucky basketball players gone, and only three recruits coming in.

For now, anyway.

The latter number almost certainly will increase in the next couple of weeks, especially with seven five-star prospects in the class of 2015 who have yet to strike Kentucky from their lists.

Some of those players acknowledged they were waiting to see which college players would enter the NBA Draft — specifically, which UK players would go pro.

Now they know: Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, Dakari Johnson, and Aaron and Andrew Harrison are all headed to the NBA.

So, who replaces them?

Much of the immediate speculation is focused on Mississippi standout Malik Newman, whom many consider the No. 1 guard in the class of 2015.

Newman's list includes UK, Kansas, Louisiana State, North Carolina State, Mississippi and Mississippi State.

He has a great relationship with UK Coach John Calipari, and his high school coach says the departure of Booker and the Harrison twins improves the Cats' chances.

"Well, I think it definitely helps," Coach David Sanders told the Herald-Leader. "Malik is a guy who wants to play. I know one of the main things he talks about on that level is he's a competitive guy and he loves to be on the floor competing.

"With all those guys leaving — not to say that he couldn't have come in and played with them — but it definitely opens up some spots for him to come in and play major minutes. And when you get through with all that, it's still the University of Kentucky. What they've done there, it's always going to be an option."

Sanders said he and Newman have talked about the role Booker played on this season's team. The freshman didn't score as many points as some of the other highly touted shooting guards around the country, but he's still projected as a possible lottery pick.

Maybe those points mean more at UK, the coach said.

"You take that 10 points a game to another school that's not Kentucky, and it probably doesn't look as good," Sanders said. "But playing at Kentucky, and them being such a prestigious school, and playing at a high level every night, it definitely enhances your game."

Las Vegas center Stephen Zimmerman is another prospect whom many analysts see as a possible fit at Kentucky.

His mother, Lori Stevens, told the Herald-Leader on Thursday that they always expected seven or eight Wildcats to opt for the pros after this season.

She also said Zimmerman still hasn't set a timetable for his decision. He's at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Ore., this week — along with the rest of UK's 2015 targets — and he'll play in the Jordan Brand Classic in Brooklyn next weekend.

Stevens said Calipari has requested an in-home visit after that game.

"We have it booked just in case he still hasn't decided," she said.

Calipari also is expected to have in-home visits with small forward Brandon Ingram and Cheick Diallo within the next two weeks.

Small forward Jaylen Brown, whom many consider the best uncommitted player in the country, said Wednesday that he planned to start cutting his list of eight schools in the next few days.

Post player Caleb Swanigan is expected to announce his decision this weekend at the Hoop Summit, though UK no longer seems to be at the top of his list.

Thon Maker is still in the process of reclassifying to 2015. UK is on his list, but he's not expected to make a decision any time soon.

UK also has a commitment from New Zealand power forward Tai Wynyard, who is in the class of 2016 but could join the Cats in December as a mid-season enrollee.

Whatever happens, the trio of Isaiah Briscoe, Skal Labissiere and Charles Matthews are almost sure to have some company in UK's signing class of 2015.

Look for the list to grow sooner rather than later.

This story was originally published April 9, 2015 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Departures end waiting game for Kentucky recruits to make their decisions."