I hope everyone had a great weekend spent with friends and family. It was an awfully busy sports weekend and plenty to get to regarding recruiting.
But for two of the biggest names, things will be a bit repetitive.
Bamba: There isn't much news coming out of the Jordan Brand Classic game regarding Bamba. It's unclear when he's going to make a decision. My guess is that this will go into May but Bamba is the type of kid that may just send out a Tweet and it will be over just like that. You never know with Bamba.
There's obviously a buzz and momentum for Texas but Kentucky still feels confident and nothing has changed. This is just my opinion and Bamba has actually said that it doesn't matter, but I still think part of what he's waiting on is seeing what Bam's going to do. He has said it doesn't necessarily matter but I'm skeptical.
Regardless of if that's accurate or I'm mistaken, UK's in a solid position as things stand right now. The interesting thing is that there's absolutely zero buzz for Michigan and Duke right now. It truly may be a two team race and I still have the Cats in front.
Bam: While we're on the subject I still think he's going pro. But, there are some people close to UK basketball that told me they wouldn't be shocked if he came back. For what it's worth they still think Bam is going pro, but it's more likely he comes back now than when he initially announced he was going pro. Almost everyone that could go pro that is a big decided to go pro and Bam does understand the benefits of coming back for another season.
I'm still about 70/30 he goes to the NBA Draft. I wish I could factually tell you all what he was going to do but he's still weighing his options. The bad news is that if he doesn't sign with an agent UK could be waiting until late May for a final decision.
Knox: Kentucky is still recruiting Knox (duh) and I would expect the Cats staff to make a visit to his family, but no school has less momentum in his recruitment right now than Kentucky. In these long, drawn out recruitments there's always going to be misdirection and things will fluctuate like the stock market, but Kentucky hasn't had much positive buzz for Knox's recruitment for weeks. I could just be dead wrong and he ends up in Lexington, but that would be the biggest recruiting surprise in my career. I don't see Knox going to UK.
30 for 30: I have to censor some of the comments I received from recruits/parents after the Calipari 30 for 30 but my goodness that documentary made waves across the recruiting world. I had one parent/guardian that had a kid go elsewhere years ago tell me that if the documentary came out when their kid was considering UK that he would have ended up in Lexington. I had another recruit that currently holds an offer from Kentucky tell me that it was the best 30 for 30 that they saw and that it was impactful for his recruitment.
Piggybacking off the conversation with the parent/guardian that told me the 30 for 30 would have changed their decision, it seemed like most recruits/parents know the Calipari story, but just seeing it all put together and the relationship Cal develops with his guys is telling.
Mark Smith: It was fun to meet him and watch him on Thursday and Friday. I was unable to make the game on Saturday but it's clear why Kentucky has offered and shown interest in Smith's game. Such a big guard that can handle the ball and pull up from anywhere and score. He's planning on visiting UK this week, and Ohio State. I think that Michigan State is the still the leader heading into his Lexington visit.
He plans on making a decision next week.
Cam Johnson: He's still planning on visiting UK and while we haven't heard about UK meeting with him for an in-home visit just know the Cats still want him and are recruiting him. Things are going to be quiet on Kentucky's end. The good news for UK is that Johnson is in NO rush. I would expect him to take all of his visits so UK will be able to figure out what they want to do with Smith, see exactly what Knox ends up doing while still actively going after Johnson.
I do think the Cats add just one more scorer. So if Smith were to commit to Kentucky, I think that would likely mean no Johnson. So, I do think the Cats will have to make a tough decision with Smith.
Alexander: Great weekend for Shai in Louisville. He scored a game-high 29 points in the Derby City Festival Classic on Saturday and won the three-point contest, too. I still not ready to say shooting will be a strength of his next season, but he's not Briscoe bad. I love the way he operates with the ball in his hands and he will be a nice player for UK for two or three years. UK's staff has always been quietly excited about what he will bring to the program.
Jarred Vanderbilt: He suffered a nasty looking ankle injury in the Jordan Brand Classic. They were home early Saturday morning and went straight to the hospital for X-rays. I've had X-rays where they were returned immediately but his dad told me they wouldn't know the extent of Jarred's injury until Monday. He told me he would text me when they find the results, so I'm not going to be pushy, but we'll be sure to post when we find out.
David McCormack: The 2018 center visited UK on Sunday. Hopefully we'll touch base with him to see how the visit went. No offer just yet.
In-home: Last week UK visited Moses Brown and Naz Reid. I knew the Brown visit was happening but the Reid visit was news to me. We're starting to get a better picture of UK's preferences in 2018.
Quickley: Kentucky will visit the 2018 guard on Friday. The Cats still like Quickley and Smart in 2018.
Smart: He was named Mr. Basketball in Louisiana for the second straight season. I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say it will be three straight after his senior season.
But for two of the biggest names, things will be a bit repetitive.
Bamba: There isn't much news coming out of the Jordan Brand Classic game regarding Bamba. It's unclear when he's going to make a decision. My guess is that this will go into May but Bamba is the type of kid that may just send out a Tweet and it will be over just like that. You never know with Bamba.
There's obviously a buzz and momentum for Texas but Kentucky still feels confident and nothing has changed. This is just my opinion and Bamba has actually said that it doesn't matter, but I still think part of what he's waiting on is seeing what Bam's going to do. He has said it doesn't necessarily matter but I'm skeptical.
Regardless of if that's accurate or I'm mistaken, UK's in a solid position as things stand right now. The interesting thing is that there's absolutely zero buzz for Michigan and Duke right now. It truly may be a two team race and I still have the Cats in front.
Bam: While we're on the subject I still think he's going pro. But, there are some people close to UK basketball that told me they wouldn't be shocked if he came back. For what it's worth they still think Bam is going pro, but it's more likely he comes back now than when he initially announced he was going pro. Almost everyone that could go pro that is a big decided to go pro and Bam does understand the benefits of coming back for another season.
I'm still about 70/30 he goes to the NBA Draft. I wish I could factually tell you all what he was going to do but he's still weighing his options. The bad news is that if he doesn't sign with an agent UK could be waiting until late May for a final decision.
Knox: Kentucky is still recruiting Knox (duh) and I would expect the Cats staff to make a visit to his family, but no school has less momentum in his recruitment right now than Kentucky. In these long, drawn out recruitments there's always going to be misdirection and things will fluctuate like the stock market, but Kentucky hasn't had much positive buzz for Knox's recruitment for weeks. I could just be dead wrong and he ends up in Lexington, but that would be the biggest recruiting surprise in my career. I don't see Knox going to UK.
30 for 30: I have to censor some of the comments I received from recruits/parents after the Calipari 30 for 30 but my goodness that documentary made waves across the recruiting world. I had one parent/guardian that had a kid go elsewhere years ago tell me that if the documentary came out when their kid was considering UK that he would have ended up in Lexington. I had another recruit that currently holds an offer from Kentucky tell me that it was the best 30 for 30 that they saw and that it was impactful for his recruitment.
Piggybacking off the conversation with the parent/guardian that told me the 30 for 30 would have changed their decision, it seemed like most recruits/parents know the Calipari story, but just seeing it all put together and the relationship Cal develops with his guys is telling.
Mark Smith: It was fun to meet him and watch him on Thursday and Friday. I was unable to make the game on Saturday but it's clear why Kentucky has offered and shown interest in Smith's game. Such a big guard that can handle the ball and pull up from anywhere and score. He's planning on visiting UK this week, and Ohio State. I think that Michigan State is the still the leader heading into his Lexington visit.
He plans on making a decision next week.
Cam Johnson: He's still planning on visiting UK and while we haven't heard about UK meeting with him for an in-home visit just know the Cats still want him and are recruiting him. Things are going to be quiet on Kentucky's end. The good news for UK is that Johnson is in NO rush. I would expect him to take all of his visits so UK will be able to figure out what they want to do with Smith, see exactly what Knox ends up doing while still actively going after Johnson.
I do think the Cats add just one more scorer. So if Smith were to commit to Kentucky, I think that would likely mean no Johnson. So, I do think the Cats will have to make a tough decision with Smith.
Alexander: Great weekend for Shai in Louisville. He scored a game-high 29 points in the Derby City Festival Classic on Saturday and won the three-point contest, too. I still not ready to say shooting will be a strength of his next season, but he's not Briscoe bad. I love the way he operates with the ball in his hands and he will be a nice player for UK for two or three years. UK's staff has always been quietly excited about what he will bring to the program.
Jarred Vanderbilt: He suffered a nasty looking ankle injury in the Jordan Brand Classic. They were home early Saturday morning and went straight to the hospital for X-rays. I've had X-rays where they were returned immediately but his dad told me they wouldn't know the extent of Jarred's injury until Monday. He told me he would text me when they find the results, so I'm not going to be pushy, but we'll be sure to post when we find out.
David McCormack: The 2018 center visited UK on Sunday. Hopefully we'll touch base with him to see how the visit went. No offer just yet.
In-home: Last week UK visited Moses Brown and Naz Reid. I knew the Brown visit was happening but the Reid visit was news to me. We're starting to get a better picture of UK's preferences in 2018.
Quickley: Kentucky will visit the 2018 guard on Friday. The Cats still like Quickley and Smart in 2018.
Smart: He was named Mr. Basketball in Louisiana for the second straight season. I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say it will be three straight after his senior season.
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