For college basketball recruiters, Kentucky has suddenly become ‘land of the giants’
Fast-break points from Phil Mickelson’s “50 is the new 30” party:
21. Kentucky: Land of the giants. Amazingly, the commonwealth will be fertile ground for men’s college basketball recruiters seeking high-upside big men in the coming cycle.
20. Maker Bar. The 6-foot-10, 207-pound Ballard High School senior-to-be led the Bruins to the Sweet Sixteen semifinals this past season. He averaged 14.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.5 blocks and 1.7 steals.
19. State’s top prospect? A native of South Sudan, Bar currently holds scholarship offers from Western Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky and Iona (Rick Pitino). Bar is ranked the No. 1 college prospect in Kentucky regardless of class by in-state recruiting analyst Rick Bolus.
18. Bol Kuir. Another South Sudan expatriate, the 7-3, 220-pound Belfry High School senior-to-be grabbed statewide attention in March when he was credited with 42 rebounds — the second-most in one game in state high school hoops history — in a double-overtime victory over Lawrence County.
17. Averaged a double-double. For his junior season, Kuir averaged 13.8 points and 13.4 rebounds while making 66.5 percent of his field-goal tries.
16. Did Bob Huggins make a move? There have been conflicting media reports over whether or not West Virginia has offered the 7-3 Kuir a scholarship. Western Kentucky has offered.
15. Cyr Malonga. A product of the Republic of Congo, the 6-11, 205-pound junior-to-be averaged 11.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and made 57.5 percent of his field-goal tries for Evangel Christian in Louisville this past season.
14. A reclassification candidate? Presently part of what could be a loaded class of 2023 in Kentucky high school hoops, Malonga has mentioned the possibility of reclassifying to the class of 2022.
13. Recruiting interest from UK? It has been reported by various outlets that Malonga will be taking an unofficial visit to Kentucky next month.
12. Makes Kentucky hoops interesting. Obviously, the commonwealth’s bevy of promising bigs owes to players leaving Africa to come to the U.S., not a homegrown growth spurt. Regardless, basketball in our state is more intriguing as a result.
11. Different story in girls’ hoops. There has been no infusion of height into Kentucky girls’ basketball. Of the top 61 college prospects in the commonwealth as ranked by talent scout Bolus, only one — 6-5 Bullitt East senior-to-be Gracie Merkle — is taller than 6-2. Out of those 61, there are only three players who stand at least 6-2.
10. The next big thing in Kentucky girls’ basketball? According to Bolus, the top college prospect in the commonwealth regardless of grade is Shelby County freshman-to-be Zakiyah Johnson.
9. Varsity star as a middle schooler. A 5-11 wing, Johnson averaged 21.8 points and 12.8 rebounds while making 50.3 percent of her shots while competing for the Shelby County varsity in 2020-21 as an eighth-grader.
8. On the recruiting radar. Before she has officially started high school, Johnson already holds college scholarship offers from Kentucky, Louisville and Northern Kentucky.
7. Lindsey Wilson’s football national champs. Having won this school year’s NAIA football title, Coach Chris Oliver’s Blue Raiders will next fall seek to join the 2000 and 2001 Georgetown Tigers as the only college football teams in Kentucky history to claim national championships in consecutive seasons.
6. A boost to the back-to-back bid. Oliver says that Lindsey Wilson’s senior starting quarterback, Cameron Dukes, is using the “free year” of eligibility offered to NAIA athletes due to the coronavirus and will return to run the Blue Raiders offense again this fall.
5.The numbers reflect the value. A 6-1, 210-pound Bullitt Central product, Dukes threw for 2,555 yards and 33 touchdowns with only four interceptions this past season. He also ran for 391 yards and 10 TDs.
4. The Dodgers add another Kentuckian. On Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers selected the contract of veteran relief pitcher Nate Jones off the roster of Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed the Pendleton County High School and Northern Kentucky University product on the L.A. big-league roster.
3. Three from the commonwealth. Jones, 35, joins Lexington product Walker Buehler and Louisville’s Will Smith with the Dodgers.
2. A strong first impression. Released by the Braves earlier this season reportedly due to a lack of command, Jones was thrust into action hours after his call-up to the Dodgers in a high-leverage role. He worked one and two-thirds hitless innings to help preserve a 2-1 win over San Francisco on Friday night.
1. “It was unreal.” On a Dodgers video-conference Saturday, Jones recounted the feeling of going, in a two-week span, from out of baseball and working out at his home in Butler, Ky., to the star-studded Dodgers clubhouse.
Said Jones: “Sitting here rubbing elbows with Clayton Kershaw, Albert Pujols and good ’ol Kentucky boy Walker (Buehler). And David Price out in the bullpen. And Kenley (Jansen). It was unreal. … It was surreal, for sure.”
