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The Latest on the Recruitment of 2024 In-State Star, Travis Perry

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Class of 2024, point guard, Travis Perry from Eddyville, Kentucky has been making big headlines with his play on the basketball court, drawing interest from schools across the nation.

The Kentucky native just became the second player in Kentucky basketball history to score 4,000 points and still has the rest of this season and next to break “King” Kelly Coleman’s state record of 4,337 points.

According to 247 Sports, Perry is a four-star point guard, who received an offer from the University of Kentucky in June of 2022 after taking an unofficial visit to campus. In total, Perry currently holds sixteen offers including Cincinnati, Michigan, Ole Miss, and Purdue among others.

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He recently talked to Davis Moseley of 247Sports about his recruitment and what teams are sticking out to him.

Kentucky

“Coach Cal and those guys do a great job. They always have a top-notch program and it’s fun to be able to see them up close. It’s close so I’m able to get up there for quick visits and practices. It’s a great program and I’m glad to have them recruiting me.”

Purdue

“I went to Purdue to watch a football game during my official visit weekend. I was able to sit with Coach Painter and all the staff. It was great being around their players and I love the way they do things over there. They were the #1 team in the nation before their loss to Indiana but they have a great system. The main thing is Coach Painter’s pitch, how he loves the guys he has and recruits the players that will be successful in his system.”

Michigan

“I also visited Michigan for a football game. I really hadn’t had too much conversation with the staff before the visit and they just had offered me. My takeaway from that visit was how great Coach Howard is. He is even better than you would expect and hear about him being. As a former NBA player, super-star, and part of arguably the most famous college basketball team of all time, you would expect him to be a touch stuck up and pretty much about his own business. That’s not how he is, at all. He is a great person, real likable, and genuinely nice to everybody. He cares about everybody in the community.”

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Ole Miss

“I went down for both a basketball and football game. I love the way Coach Davis and his staff run things. Coach Davis has been on me for a while, so getting to grow our relationship and see how he runs things was big on my visit.”

Overall Picture

Just a junior in high school, Perry’s recruitment is likely to extend at least through the summer and likely farther than that. With that said, the Kentucky staff has not been actively recruiting Perry as of late, which will likely push him to another school.

However, to make an offer, they had to have seen something. With time remaining, if the Wildcats commit to recruiting Perry he could team up with Reed Sheppard barring a jump to the NBA. With that said, at the moment, Michigan and Ole Miss are the perceived favorites, but Matt Painter and Purdue were recently seen at one of Perry’s games and look to make a push.

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BB Recruiting

Kentucky Earns Commitment From European Big Andrija Jelavic

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Earlier today, Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats received the commitment from Andrija Jelavic, a 6-foot-11 big from Croatia.

As first reported by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Jelavic is one of the most highly regarded European prospects that is taking his talent to the NCAA.

Soon to be 21 years old, Jelavic averaged 10.8 points per game on 60% shooting from the field to go along with 7.4 rebounds per game for Mega Superbet, the same club that NBA Champion and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic played for.

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As a shock to most, who were expecting Pope’s next commit to be a guard of some sorts, international players can now sign lucrative NIL deals. Kentucky, along with several of the elite colleges, are now in the European market. 

Jelavic, with shades of current European big men, can do just about everything on the court. He can shoot, dribble, pass, finish at the rim, etc. With a very relevant comparison, Jelavic plays almost perfectly in the replacement role of Andrew Carr. 

His commitment now makes him the fifth member of Pope’s additions this offseason, joining Kam Williams, Jaland Lowe, Mouhamed Dioubate and Jayden Quaintance. 

With a 7’2” wingspan, joining an already impressive Kentucky frontcourt, it’s safe to say for certain that this new team will not lack in that department. 

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Next year’s roster was loaded with talent already, but now with the addition of Jelavic, lots of questions are arising: Who will start? How many more players is Pope going to add? What will happen with the walk-ons? 

There’s plenty to think about for Pope and his staff before the season starts, but like he said back when he introduced himself to Big Blue Nation, “We’re here to win banners.” He’s going to make the moves he thinks will do just that for the Wildcats. 

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Four-Star Guard Acaden Lewis Suddenly Decommits from Kentucky

Amidst a recent wave of positive recruiting news for Kentucky, the surprising decommitment of Acaden Lewis is an unfortunate wrench.

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2025 four-star point guard prospect Acaden Lewis has decommited from Kentucky.
UK Athletics

In a shocking, late at night turn of events, four-star freshman Acaden Lewis has decommitted from Kentucky.

Lewis, a 6’3” point guard out of Washington, D.C. first committed to the blue and white in November of last year, following an in-person visit with Mark Pope in his hometown.

Since then, he’s made multiple appearances in Rupp Arena, been featured in photo shoots with his fellow incoming recruits, and spoken on multiple occasions about his excitement to join the team for the 2025-26’ season.

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To say this development is surprising would be a serious understatement.

Lewis released a statement following the announcement, “This was an incredibly difficult decision, but I have to do what’s best for my future,” he said. “Thank you to Coach Pope and the whole Kentucky staff for all they’ve done for me so far.”

While the loss of Lewis is certainly disappointing, there is still much to look forward to next season for Kentucky, who maintain one of the highest rated transfer classes in the nation – and it likely isn’t finished.

To that point, if any reason can be derived immediately for Lewis’ decommitment, it may be found in the same place that Mark Pope and staff will be going to look for answers: the transfer portal.

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Top 10 Transfer Prospect, Former Wildcat Recruit Jayden Quaintance Commits to Kentucky

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2024 five-star big man Jayden Quaintance has commmitted to play basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats
UK Athletics

Two days into the week and two booms for the Kentucky Wildcats as Jayden Quaintance announced his commitment to Kentucky on Tuesday morning.

If the Quaintance name sounds familiar, it should. He was originally committed to play for the Cats out of high school last season as a five-star recruit. While he was interested in staying at Kentucky following John Calipari’s departure, even meeting with Mark Pope, he elected to play for Arizona State.

In his one season with the Sun Devils, Quaintance averaged 9.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG, and 2.6 BPG, and earned Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Defensive honors.

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The one concern for Quaintance is that he had surgery to repair a torn ACL, which could keep him out for the entire offseason and potentially into the season. That said, the expectation for a return is September, and at just 17 years old, there is so much untapped potential.

Get to know the newest Wildcat commit!

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