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John Calipari With Opportunity to Re-take the ‘One-and-Done’ Throne, Duke Says They Won’t Recruit as Many Freshmen

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Scheyer: © Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports, Calipari: © Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

Since his time at Memphis, the “one-and-done” college basketball player has been John Calipari’s mantra. His most successful teams have been led by one-and-done star freshmen who have gone on to be lottery picks in the NBA draft.

For example, Derrick Rose, John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Julius Randle, Karl-Anthony Towns, De’Aaron Fox, etc. The list goes on and on.

For a long time, Calipari was alone at the top recruiting these one-year players. Many college coaches stayed away from recruiting these kinds of players in search of more “long-term” investments, a.k.a. guys who would stay with a program for 3-4 years. However, there was no denying the success that Coach Cal was having with his one-and-done type of players.

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In 2013, legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski stepped onto the one-and-done scene and began recruiting these kinds of players to Duke. After resisting the one-and-done trend for a while, he did a 180 and brought a ton of one-and-done talent to Duke until he retired after last season.

When Coach K embraced the one-and-done, he definitely gave Coach Cal a run for his money as they competed for many of the same highly touted recruits. In many cases, Coach K ended up with the upper hand in those battles.

Players that Kentucky missed out on that ended up at Duke include Zion Williamson (2018), RJ Barrett (2018), Paolo Banchero (2021), Harry Giles (2016), Vernon Carey Jr. (2019), Brandon Ingram (2015), etc.

For a while, it seemed like Coach K had stolen Coach Cal’s recruiting mojo.

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This year marks the first year that Mike Krzyzewski won’t be coaching the Duke Blue Devils since 1979. With Coach K out of the picture, it would be a prime opportunity for Coach Cal to resume his domination in recruiting.

The “Jon Scheyer Era” of Duke Basketball

In a recent interview with The Athletic, first-year Duke head basketball coach, Jon Scheyer, informed that a culture change was due for their program, starting with recruiting.

“I feel really good about what we’ve done, and what we’re doing, but going forward, to me, it’s important that we have continuity from season to season,’’ Scheyer told the Athletic. “From a culture perspective, it’s hard to do in college basketball, but we feel we can do it in a really good way, while still recruiting differently. I don’t think we’ll recruit as many freshmen in a class going forward.’’

“Unpack your bags,’’ he says. “It’s not a pit stop. You have to be all in.’’

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If this is the route that Duke decides to go with recruiting going forward, the opportunity for John Calipari to dominate recruiting one-and-done players once again is right there for the taking.

It does need to be noted that the article says, “Calipari, the mastermind of one-and-done winning, has hit the portal hard to get old.” However, this is primarily because of the increased competition in recruiting elite prospects.

Other programs have done well recruiting the one-and-done’s also, but Duke has by-and-far been Kentucky’s greatest competition. More teams are now also taking advantage of the revamped transfer portal, trying to cash in on talented players with division 1 experience.

With the revamped transfer portal and Kentucky’s largest recruiting competition intending to make a change with their recruiting, Coach Cal’s recruitment of the one-and-done stars may run unopposed.

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Kentucky fans may see John Calipari and the Wildcats rule college basketball once again, sooner rather than later.

BB Recruiting

Top 20 Prospect Taylen Kinney Set To Visit Kentucky

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James Weber | The Enquirer

Taylen Kinney, one of the top guards in the 2026 class and the No. 1 point guard in Kentucky, will take an official visit with the Wildcats beginning on June 24.

The Newport, Kentucky native has been inserted in a bit of a bidding war with Louisville and other premier schools after his official visit with the Cardinals, but of course the true recruiting powerhouse had to cast a line in hope of a bite.

KSR’s Jack Pilgrim caught a video of Kinney working with Mark Pope one-on-one on the morning of June 17 at the USA U19 Training Camp in Colorado Springs.

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A picture of Kinney, along with Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson, two of Kentucky’s incoming freshman on this year’s squad, came out of the camp. Tyran Stokes, the No. 1 player in the class of 2026, who already took a visit to Kentucky recently, was also shown in the picture. All four players are Kentucky natives.

Kinney is a priority for Kentucky, and Pope planting the idea of being a Wildcat in his mind this past weekend certainly builds the hype of his commitment being a future reality.

However, we can’t act like Pat Kelsey hasn’t already beat Pope to the punch, and it may be too late to change Kinney’s mind on being a Cardinal.

“I probably talk to coach Kelsey twice a week,” Kinney said. “He talks to my parents multiple times a week. I talk to the whole staff all of the time.”

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He later added on some words that no Wildcat fan would want to hear.

“They (Louisville’s staff) just told me that I was their guy,” Kinney said. “I fit perfectly into their system, and there’s no other school that I fit better into than them.

A common member of Big Blue Nation would likely think “yeah alright, wait until you get that Kentucky treatment,” and with the climate of today’s recruiting trail, who knows what can happen.

It will likely be a long time before the star guard makes an official decision, but who doesn’t like a good back-and-forth between two rival programs. The bell has already rung, and round one goes to the Cardinals, but the Wildcats are coming out swinging for round two.

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No. 1 Ranked Recruit Takes Official Visit to Kentucky

The top-ranked recruit in the nation, Tyran Stokes, took his official visit to Kentucky following a prior delay.

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Tyran Stokes takes his official visit to Kentucky.
Mark J. Rebilas | Imagn Images

Being from Louisville doesn’t necessarily make you a cardinal, and Mark Pope has set out to prove that in the biggest possible way.

The top-ranked overall recruit in next year’s class, Tyran Stokes, officially took a visit to Lexington on Sunday, June 8. This comes in lieu of many rumors that he’d canceled his visit altogether due to frustration with fans trying to dig for information online.

Last month in a cryptic post on X, Stokes said, “Why can’t y’all give a kid some privacy”. As curious as that was, especially given the proximity to his originally planned visit to Kentucky, it seems that the true issue had no bearing on his choice to hear Coach Pope’s plea. 

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And, as Kentucky fans now know, sometimes that’s all it takes to get a guy in blue and white.

The Louisville native, at 6’7, 230, has become widely renowned for his strong slashing ability as a multi-threat scorer on the wing. Stokes is the sort of player that, nobody who you already have on your team, you make room for him. He’s got an intangible build made for the big leagues, and he’s not even out of high school yet.

Stokes is the kind of guy that’d have NBA scouts sitting court side in Rupp Arena. While that level of national buzz isn’t always a good thing, it’s hard to underscore the possibility, and excitement, of the top recruit in the nation committing to the Cats come 2026.

In the very least, Kentucky is in the race, alongside Kansas and Louisville as heavy pursuers. It’s never too early to look ahead, and, as usual, Pope and staff are doing just that with the biggest names in the game.

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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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