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How Did Kentucky’s Two Five-Star Signees Perform in the McDonald’s All-American Game?

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Kentucky Signee Cason Wallace (Photo by Brian Spurlock | Icon Sportswire)

Kentucky is bringing in two top-10 to next year’s roster, Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston. They both faced off against each other in last night’s annual McDonald’s All-American game, with Livingston’s East team taking down Wallace’s West team, 105-81.

Keep in mind, this was just an exhibition (as you could probably tell by the score), but both showed flashes of their talent and earned praise from the broadcasters.

Kentucky has been missing that alpha male mentality in recent seasons, but Cason Wallace has shown that mentality and hopes to bring it with him to Lexington.

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In addition to his mentality, the 6-4 combo guard, has been touted as one of the best defensive playmakers in this class. With his length and intangibles, Wallace has the ability to lock up his opponents.

Check out this short breakdown of Wallace from last summer’s Nike EYBL play.

Wallace struggled from the field, shooting 3-10, but recorded seven points, five rebounds, six assists, and a steal, but was given praise from ESPN’s Cory Alexander. Alexander complimented Wallace on the leadership he showed throughout the week leading up to last night’s game, and also praised him for his ability to always make the correct play.

Livington’s night was a bit better, scoring 13 points and adding six rebounds, five assists and blocked a shot. If it weren’t for Livingston going 1-7 from the free-throw line, he would have had a serious bid to be the game’s MVP. With that being said, don’t freak out. Livingston was a 70% free throw shooter at Oak Hill Academy, so there shouldn’t be any strong belief that he is a liability at the line.

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The 6-6 wing has a tremendous physical build, explosive athleticism, and some versatility that could allow him to play a point-forward role. Livingston is also a very active player that has a knack for coming up with loose balls, which ESPN’s Paul Biancardi pointed out, saying, ” He just plays hard all the time… He reminds me in many ways of a poor man’s Jimmy Butler.”

I feel sorry for the rims at Rupp Arena next season.

After losing to Saint Peter’s and a lot of roster uncertainty, there is plenty to be frustrated at, but Wildcat fans should be somewhat comforted knowing that these two guys are coming in next season. As Kyle Tucker put it, “both are absolutely grown-ass men.”

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BB Recruiting

Kentucky Earns Commitment From European Big Andrija Jelavic

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ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic

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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