A lot of talk has been made of Marques Bolden lately and whether or not UK leads for his recruitment.
I had originally been told after Bam committed that Kentucky was still recruiting Bolden but it seemed unlikely he'd end up as a Wildcat.
Why was it unlikely? Not sure. I didn't know if UK wasn't recruiting him that hard, if Bolden wasn't all that interested in UK or it just wasn't going to be a great fit.
But as it turns out, things have changed.
Bolden's recruitment has always been very quiet, but I learned this week he's still very much interested in UK, and Kentucky is very much interested in him.
As I'm finding out, UK did initially cool on Bolden a bit after Bam committed but the main reasoning for that is because UK wasn't sure about scholarship numbers.
There's still a concern there, as UK has five guys coming in, Bolden or someone else would be six, and it's unclear how many the Cats will lose.
Labissiere, Poythress, Murray are gone, but can three more go?
Lee seems likely. Briscoe is playing well. Maybe Ulis? A transfer? Take E.J. Floreal off scholarship?
It seems more likely that an extra scholarship for Bolden will be available. Again, that's clearly not official, but I'm told Kentucky feels better about their scholarship situation. And with that being said UK will continue to push for Bolden.
Talking with some folks at Duke and Kansas, neither school feels great about landing him. That's a positive for Kentucky. If this is a recruitment that drags on until the spring, we will continue to monitor it and I think UK will remain in the picture, after initially it looked like UK was done with bigs after Bam committed. If he sets a decision date in the next month or two I think UK has as good of a chance as anyone.
I had originally been told after Bam committed that Kentucky was still recruiting Bolden but it seemed unlikely he'd end up as a Wildcat.
Why was it unlikely? Not sure. I didn't know if UK wasn't recruiting him that hard, if Bolden wasn't all that interested in UK or it just wasn't going to be a great fit.
But as it turns out, things have changed.
Bolden's recruitment has always been very quiet, but I learned this week he's still very much interested in UK, and Kentucky is very much interested in him.
As I'm finding out, UK did initially cool on Bolden a bit after Bam committed but the main reasoning for that is because UK wasn't sure about scholarship numbers.
There's still a concern there, as UK has five guys coming in, Bolden or someone else would be six, and it's unclear how many the Cats will lose.
Labissiere, Poythress, Murray are gone, but can three more go?
Lee seems likely. Briscoe is playing well. Maybe Ulis? A transfer? Take E.J. Floreal off scholarship?
It seems more likely that an extra scholarship for Bolden will be available. Again, that's clearly not official, but I'm told Kentucky feels better about their scholarship situation. And with that being said UK will continue to push for Bolden.
Talking with some folks at Duke and Kansas, neither school feels great about landing him. That's a positive for Kentucky. If this is a recruitment that drags on until the spring, we will continue to monitor it and I think UK will remain in the picture, after initially it looked like UK was done with bigs after Bam committed. If he sets a decision date in the next month or two I think UK has as good of a chance as anyone.
