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Justin Edwards Wants to Win a Title at Kentucky, Help John Calipari with Play “A Lot” of Freshmen Again

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UK Athletics

John Calipari became Kentucky’s head coach in 2009 and immediately went on one of the greatest winning tears in college basketball history. Calipari’s first seven seasons consisted of: 5 Elite Eights, 4 Final Fours, a National Runner-Up, and of course, the 2012 National Championship.

A large part of that success was due to elite, one-and-done freshmen. In fact, over that seven-year stretch, Kentucky had six No. 1 recruiting classes, which consisted of sixteen top-10 commitments and ten top-5 commitments.

However, in the seven seasons since, Kentucky has only one No. 1 recruiting class, with programs like Duke and Memphis making more of an effort to recruit freshmen. In comparison to that first stretch, Kentucky has had only eight top-10 commitments and just ONE top-5 commitment (Skal Labissiere).

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This has impacted Kentucky’s success, having just two Elite Eight appearances and no Final Fours since 2015.

One reason for this is staff changes, which led Kentucky to fall behind a bit, missing out on several top players. Due to this, Calipari had to look at graduate transfers and then the transfer portal to bridge the gap. While this has produced some great players, the talent gap is apparent.

Fortunately, in recent years, Calipari’s staff hires have shown a clear intention to reestablish their recruiting dominance with the hires of Chin Coleman, Jai Lucas (now at Duke), and K.T. Turner (leaving for UT Arlington HC position), and maybe most importantly, the rehire of Orlando Antigua. This has culminated in the No. 1 recruiting class in 2023, which features 5 five-star signees, including four in the top-15 and three in the top-5.

One of those elite players coming next season is Justin Edwards, who talked to the media at the McDonald’s All-American game this past weekend.

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“I think we can accomplish a lot. I think we can win a national championship,” Edwards said on Monday. In doing so, he believes that he can help Calipari go back to something he is used to., playing freshmen.

“I think Cal can go back to playing freshmen more. Going back to play a lot of freshmen,” Edwards said.

This quote is telling of the direction Calipari wants to take in recruiting. That isn’t to say that Kentucky will not look at transfers to fill roster deficiencies, but he clearly wants to back to recruiting the best of the best. If this team has success, Kentucky could resolve itself as the place for freshmen to go with Calipari at the helm.

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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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