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BB Recruiting

2022 Nike EYBL Louisville Session Interview: Tre Johnson

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Photo By Tristan Pharis

While John Calipari does not like to show much interest until the summer of a recruit going from their junior to senior year, however, Tre Johnson is a top-five recruit in 2024 that Kentucky has expressed a lot of interest in.

Johnson has created a reputation as a pure shooting guard and an elite shooter, something that Kentucky will always welcome. With such a beautiful and fluid shooting form, it is easy to see why.

On the weekend, Johnson was one of the leading scorers of the Louisville Nike EYBL session, averaging 19.6 points on an efficient 48% shooting from the field and 47% shooting from three, while also averaging nearly 4 made threes per game.

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To add to that, Johnson is also comfortable utilizing his mid-range game. As for areas of improvement, Johnson does need to become a more confident ball handler and assist-maker, which will round out his all-around game.

Johnson has called Kentucky his “dream school”, and looks up to former UK guard, Tyrese Maxey, which puts Kentucky in the mix off principle this early on. Let’s recap what Johnson had to say about Kentucky and more in my interview with him.

You’ve said that Kentucky is one of the schools that you have been hearing a lot from lately. What have those communications been like?

“It’s been good just knowing that Kentucky is reaching out. They are saying that I am a player that can fit their style of play. It’s also good knowing that I can go to a place like Kentucky and be effective.”

How has the departure of Jai Lucas affected your recruitment? Who has taken over?

“No, but that is who I was mainly talking to. When he left, I started talking to another assistant coach, but I am not sure who it was, my dad didn’t tell me that.”

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You’ve called Kentucky your “dream school”, why is that and what makes it so attractive?

“That was my favorite school when I was younger. I always wanted to go to Kentucky when I was younger. Then, Tyrese Maxey, we are from the same place, and I just looked up to him and wanted to go where he went. Right now, I am open to anywhere.”

Are you close with Tyrese (Maxey)? Has he talked to you about Kentucky?

“We don’t talk a lot, but we talk on occasion. He hasn’t said anything, we try not to get into that.”

You have said that you would rather receive constructive criticism than to be praised for how good you are, so what are you working to improve on?

Improving on my team defense. Helping rebound, even when our big man is there or is not there.

What factors are you looking at to help you make a decision?

“A place where they give their guards freedom. Let their guards play and let them do what they do in practice. A place that plays winning basketball, a team that wants to win.”

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Does NIL play a large factor in your recruitment?

“No, not really. NIL is not the big picture. The big picture to me is to go to the NBA.”


Get up to speed with this breakdown on Kentucky’s latest target, Tre Johnson.

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BB Recruiting

2024 5-Star Wing Karter Knox Commits To Kentucky

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2024 five-star prospect, Karter Knox commits to the Kentucky Wildcats.
Adam Hagy | Overtime Elite

Over the weekend, Kentucky not only got a Top 5 road win against Tennessee, or be featured in Drake’s concert at Rupp Arena, but they also received a 2024 commitment from a five-star recruit.

Karter Knox, a top-20 player in the 2024 class, and brother of former Wildcat Kevin Knox, announced his commitment to Kentucky on Saturday. Karter committed to Kentucky over South Florida, Louisville, and a return to Overtime Elite, with the latter two being seen as the most likely destination until nearly the very end.

Why Kentucky? “Coach Calipari has sent a lot of people to the league and I want to be a pro,” Knox said after his commitment. “He told me he’s going to make me a pro. I’m ready to hoop and win a national championship.”

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Knox joins five-star prospects Jayden Quaintance, Boogie Fland, and Somto Cyril, and four-stars Travis Perry and Billy Richmond in Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class. Together, Kentucky’s class now ranks 2nd in the nation, behind Duke.

Don’t think that Knox will be Kentucky’s last take in the class as there are murmurs of 2024 decomitmments and 2025 reclassifications including Darryn Peterson, Jasper Johnson, and most recently, Joson Sanon.

Scouting Report

Per 247Sports’ Adam Finkelstein.

Karter Knox is a true three-range scorer on the wing. He’s not quite as big as advertised, but he compensates with long arms, a naturally strong build, soft hands, good timing in a variety of different circumstances, and a versatile skill-set.

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While he’s a shooting threat from three with a soft natural ball and compact release, and even capable of making some threes on the move, he’s proven to be most efficient inside the arc to this point in his career.

He has very good perimeter footwork, can attack to either side off the dribble without wasting much motion, and plays through contact while doing so. He is a consistent pull-up threat in the mid-range area and showing an increased willingness to punish smaller defenders in the post. He’s shown flashes of passing ability and unselfishness, and is also a quality rebounder on the wing.

Defensively, he’s not the most laterally quick, but has enough size and length to be effective. The key is being consistently locked in though as he has times, particularly with his high school team, where he’s shown less sense of urgency on that end of the floor.

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2025 No. 1 Point Guard Darius Acuff Updates Recruitment, Talks About Kentucky Wanting Him to Be A Leader

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Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Darius Acuff, the No. 9 player and No. 1 point guard in the 2025 class, is one of Kentucky’s biggest recruiting targets in the class. While he has yet to drop a top list, Kentucky is believed to be in a really good position.

With his recruitment about to ramp up this spring, Acuff spoke with On3 to update his recruitment and discuss the two official visits he took last fall, one of which was to Kentucky for Big Blue Madness.

“It was lit down there,” he told On3. “I went down for Big Blue Madness. They’re a great school and have put a lot of players in the league. I’ve been doing my research on all the schools and I’ve seen all the guards they’ve had. They play my style of play and let their guards make plays. Their facilities were big and they definitely showed a lot of love when I was there. It was a great school.”

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During another interview with 247Sports, Acuff provided some insight into what the staff talked about during his visit.

“On the visit they told me to watch DJ Wagner and see how he talks and his leadership as the point guard of the team,” Acuff said. “They’d want to play my game if I were to go there, get to the next level and be a leader. Most of our conversations was about being a leader 24/7 because the team will go how you go.”

Kentucky recruiting Acuff as a leader suggests that the staff envisions him to be a key piece for the 2025 class, leading the team as the point guard.

Acuff’s lone other visit was to his home state school of Michigan, but he is looking to take more over the coming weeks and months, to Kansas (March 5th), Texas, Houston, Georgia Tech, and others.

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What is Acuff looking for in a school? “I’m going to be looking for a program and a coach that is going to let me do me and let me rock out,” he says. “I want to play with a coach who is going to teach me right from wrong and be there to support me. I’ve thought some about the pro stuff, I want to go to college though. Yeah, college for sure.”

John Calipari will let a player “rock out” if they prove themself to be good enough, just look at Rob Dillingham this season. That said, a proven three-level scorer, Acuff put up the fourth-highest point average in Nike’s EYBL last season.

For Kentucky, this is a positive update and certainly a recruitment to watch.

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Kentucky Expressing Interest In 2025 Kiyan Anthony, Son of Former NBA Star Carmelo Anthony

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Kentucky is showing interest in Kiyan Anthony, the son of former NBA star Carmelo Anthony.
Nike EYBL/Team Melo

Kentucky has been expressing interest in the son of former NBA star Carmelo Anthony, Kiyan Anthony. While he has the nation’s attention partly due to his father’s name, he is a top-40 player in the class of 2025.

Anthony played in the Marshall County Hoopfest in December, where the Kentucky staff was in attendance to check out 2024 Top-5 prospect VJ Edgecombe, who has since committed to Baylor. While there, they were impressed enough to reach out to Kiyan, who recently spoke with On3 to discuss his new Kentucky interests among other topics.

“I recently started to talk to Kentucky because they’ve been at our games and practices because of my teammate, VJ (Edgecombe). So I guess they were really impressed in practice and stuff,” Anthony said. He spoke with the Kentucky staff after his game in Marshall County, he said.

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He had some pretty good praise for Kentucky when he talked about his thoughts on the program. “I feel like Kentucky is top-tier when it comes to getting people to the league and just winning,” Anthony said. “Coach Cal, he’s not going to show any mercy. He really pushes his players to the max. Some people aren’t built for it, but I feel like the ones that are, they really take that next step and get to the league or get where they need to go.”

It needs to be noted that Kentucky has yet to extend an offer, but Anthony says, “The coaches over there are texting me, telling me to keep working. When they come to practice they say how I’m getting a lot better and they have their eyes on me.”

John Calipari has never been keen on the extra stuff that comes with having the son of a former NBA star (i.e. Bronny James) on his team, but could Kiyan be an exception? Time will tell, but at this moment it doesn’t seem likely.

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