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Big Recruiting Weekend for Kentucky Basketball

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Reeves (Left) via ISU Athletics, Miller (Right) via ProInsight

This weekend is a big one for the Kentucky men’s basketball program, specifically to help shape next year’s roster.

Top transfer target, Antonio Reeves, and five-star recruit, Leonard Miller, will both be in Lexington taking visits.

Antonio Reeves

Averaging 20.1 points, Antonio Reeves is the highest scorer in the transfer portal and is one of the hottest names in the portal period, ranked as a top 25 transfer by both ESPN and The Athletic.

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Reeves, a junior transfer from Illinois State, stands 6-foot-6 and 185 pounds and is a scoring specialist.

As previously mentioned, Reeves averages 20.1 points, but scores his points efficiently, shooting 46.9 percent from the field, 39 percent from 3-point range, and 81.8 percent from the free-throw line

Kentucky will be Reeves’ only second visit since entering the portal, previously visiting Nebraska. However, he has received interest from the likes of Duke, Texas Tech, and North Carolina among others.

Reeves, originally from Chicago, is being recruited by UK assistant and fellow Chicago native Chin Coleman. Coleman’s recruiting ties within the city are well known, with him even being the former director of Mac Irvin Fire, Reeves’ former AAU program.

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Calipari and Co. have seemingly embraced the transfer portal, building this past season’s team with three key transfers that started.

Considering UK’s embracing of the transfer portal and the ties to Coleman, this should put Kentucky atop of Reeves’ list

Leonard Miller

Leonard Miller has seen his stock skyrocket in recent months, going from relatively unknown to ranked 11th in the On3 recruiting rankings, and now arguably the best remaining prospect in the 2022 class.

Thanks to a six-inch growth spurt, the lanky forward from Canada now stands 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-3 wingspan but has shown impressive shooting touch and guard skills for his size.

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According to Jamie Shaw of On3, this past season, Miller initiated 90% of his team’s offense. Averaging 32 points per game and shooting over 40% from three.

In an interview with Travis Graf of Rivals, Miller called Kentucky a “dream school”, which is something Kentucky fans have heard a thousand times before, but it does seem that he does like what Kentucky has to offer.

“That’s been a dream school of mine since I’ve been growing up. I like the culture that they have and what they bring to the table. They have a record of producing and having good results with their guys. Just the whole gig in general, I like it.”

Miller just named his final three on Thursday, including Arizona, G-League, and Kentucky

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The popular belief that it is primarily down to Kentucky and the G-League, those being his only two visits, and considering Arizona has not been mentioned until recently.

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BB Recruiting

Kentucky Has Contacted Nation’s Leading Scorer, Four-Star Transfer Jaron Pierre Who Is “Definitely” Interested in the Cats

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Jacksonville State transfer Jaron Pierre has been contacted by Kentucky.
Jacksonville State Athletics

There are more than a thousand players in the transfer portal, meaning names are flying left and right. As of April 1st, Kentucky has one commitment in Kam Williams (Tulane), and is projected to land top 25 transfer Magoon Gwath (San Diego State).

That said, the Kentucky staff has been in contact with more than a dozen players, and there is another notable player to add to that list.

KY Insider can report that Kentucky has contacted Jaron Pierre from Jacksonville State. Pierre is currently a four-star transfer prospect and ranked as the 34th ranked prospect in 247Sports‘ transfer portal rankings.

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At Jacksonville State last season, Pierre scored more points than anyone else in college basketball (777 points), averaging 21.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 38.2% from 3-point range (9.0 attempts per game). He scored 30 points or more in six games, and only had one game where he did not score in double digits. His impressive play earned him Conference USA Player of the Year honors.

Pierre also had prior stops at Southern Miss and Wichita State, where he spent two years at each school, and will be going into his sixth season of college basketball. Pierre has also declared for the NBA Draft, but is not currently projected on any mock drafts.

While still early in his recruitment, Pierre tells KY Insider that he is “definitely” interested in Kentucky, but no Zoom meeting or visit has been scheduled.

“I love it Big Blue Nation,” Pierre said of the Kentucky program. He also really liked what Mark Pope was able to do in his first season in Lexington. “He was able to pick up right where it left off.”

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The level of competition is always a question when evaluating a mid-major talent, but Pierre’s athleticism jumps off the page and a 38.2% clip from three on nine attempts per game is nothing to slight at.

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Kentucky Receives First Transfer Commitment From Top 25 Prospect, “Not Many People Get Opportunities Like This”

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Kentucky transfer Kam Williams prepares to shoot.

While all the attention is on Kentucky’s matchup with Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen, the transfer portal officially opened on Monday and the staff has been hard at work.

Already tossing a wide net, reaching out to nearly a dozen guys in the past few days, the Cats have reeled in their first commitment from Top 25 ranked (247Sports), four-star transfer Kam Williams from Tulane.

With a 6-8, 190-pound frame, Williams has good size. What caught the staff’s eye is his ELITE shooting ability, shooting better than 41 percent this past season and that includes 17 threes made beyond 25 feet. He excels best in catch-and-shoot situations, where he ranks in the 94th percentile.

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Williams received interest from many schools in addition to Kentucky, such as Florida, Louisville, and St. John’s among others. Why did Williams commit to Kentucky so quickly?

“Not many people get opportunities like this, so I wanted to pull the trigger fast,” Williams told ESPN. “More people are waiting to fill that spot, so I had to take advantage.”

“My dream is to play in the NBA. Kentucky’s culture and background shows that they care about their players, especially developing them into the best players they can be.”

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Kentucky Named a Finalist for Five Star, Top 5 NBA Prospect Nate Ament

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2025 top five prospect Nate Ament on his visit to Kentucky.
UK Athletics

Mark Pope has received three top-35 commitments in his first high school recruiting class, including two high 4-star commits in Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno.

However, his first top-10 prospect still eludes him after missing out on Caleb Wilson last month… at least for now.

Over the last few weeks, Pope and his staff have focused heavily on top-five prospect Nate Ament.

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Ament, the second-ranked power forward in the 2025 class, cut his list down to five schools earlier this week: Duke, Louisville, Tennessee, Arkansas, and the Kentucky Wildcats.

The 6-foot-9 prospect has visited each of them except Arkansas over the last five months, with a decision expected in the next month or so. Where does each program stand?

According to Joe Tipton of On3, Louisville and Duke have “positioned themselves” the best in this recruitment, giving Pat Kesley and the Cardinals a slight lead. However, there is still time, and one thing that could shake things up the most is NIL, reported to be one of Ament’s biggest priorities.

Elsewhere at On3, Jamie Shaw did his own update, where he said this could be down to a Kentucky vs. Louisville battle.

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“Speaking with sources at this point in time it does sound like there is a split room around Nate Ament with Duke, Louisville, and Kentucky. With the intel I am currently getting, I would not be surprised to see this ultimately come down to a Kentucky and Louisville battle,” Shaw wrote, later adding that a decision could come in the next few weeks.

Ament is fresh off a visit to Kentucky, where he saw Rupp Arena at its best as the Wildcats completed the season sweep of Tennessee. That being his most recent visit, along with Pope visiting for Ament’s Senior night, the hope is it made a lasting impact, but will it be enough?

Time will tell, but the Cats are a legitimate contender to land Ament.

Be sure to read Shaw’s update here.

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Also posted on A Sea of Blue.

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