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Jabari Smith Says He Always Wanted to Go to Kentucky

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NCAA

In recent years, Kentucky has had some misfortune with top-ranked recruits. Some of that misfortune is due to unique situations such as family/high school coach hires – as was the case with Cade Cunningham and James Wiseman – but some is due to the reluctance to adapt.

This was a key reason for the departures of Tony Barbee and Joel Justus, as well as the (re)hires of Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman.

One of the things that needed to change the most was the philosophy of waiting until the summer prior to a recruit’s senior year to make a scholarship offer. When Jai Lucas left for Duke back in April, it is alleged that this was one of the reasons.

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While we have heard several recruits talk about this topic, a former top-10 recruit and No. 3 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Jabari Smith, is the most recent to do so.

Smith talked to Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks and went into detail about how he always wanted to play for Kentucky.

“When I grew up, I was always watching Kentucky. Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk. I was always watching them, that is where I wanted to go. When I was younger I always said ‘I want to go to Kentucky’. When I got older and teams started recruiting me, I had offers from Georgia, Auburn, LSU. When I started getting offers like that, I was like ‘Kentucky, where are you at?’…’What are you not seeing?’ When my decision came, I wanted to go somewhere that seen my potential early.”

Fortunately for the Kentucky basketball program, the staff finally had the awareness to see this and are looking to change things starting with the 2024 class.

On June 15th, NCAA rules permitted college basketball coaches to make unlimited calls and texts directly to recruits in the 2024 class. Kentucky wasted no time and reached out to more than 20 prospects and offered five of them, showing a change in approach by expressing interest earlier.

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The change in philosophy is already showing early returns, as one of those offers was to No. 1 recruit Ian Jackson, who already has a prediction to Kentucky.

While Kentucky isn’t able to change things with recruits from the past, it looks like they have their focus set on not letting another elite recruit not feel enough interest.

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BB Recruiting

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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Kentucky Hosting Top Five Recruit Nate Ament

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Top five prospect Nate Ament will be visiting Kentucky in Rupp Arena as they take on Tennessee.
USA Basketball

After missing out on Caleb Wilson, Kentucky has shifted focus to its last remaining prospect, Nate Ament. The 6-foot-9 small forward prospect out of Warrenton, Virginia, is now the Wildcats’ last remaining prospect in the high school ranks for the 2025 class.

Ament has set up a visit to Kentucky, which was first reported by On3’s Joe Tipton. He will be in attendance when Tennessee travels to Rupp Arena on February 11th, with both the Wildcats and the Volunteers in the mix within the recruitment.

It is important to note that Kentucky is behind in this recruitment as they prioritized Caleb Wilson over Ament which did not pay off in the end. Ament has already visited Duke, Tennessee, Louisville, Texas, and Notre Dame. He is currently down to 11 schools including the Cats.

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Duke has been considered the longtime favorite in the recruitment but Mark Pope and company will have the chance to sell themselves before Ament decides to commit to another school.

Mark Pope even recruited Ament during his visit to Tennessee, where Kentucky pulled the upset on the road. As the team was celebrating coming off the floor, Pope passed Ament saying “Let’s go, Nate,” and “C’mon, Nate.”

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