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Kentucky Checks in on Pair of Top 2024 Recruits

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UK Athletics/© Robert Scheer/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

While there are still decisions to be made and players to be added to next season’s roster, the Kentucky staff is not laying in wait, instead, they are taking a look at the 2024 recruiting class. As the grassroots AAU circuits are picking up across the country, Kentucky stopped to see Flory Bidunga and Tre Johnson this past weekend.

Note: Rankings from 247Sports.

Flory Bidunga (2024, No. 1 C, No. 3 Overall)

Flory Bidunga, was shown by Kentucky that he is becoming more and more of a priority, visiting him for the second time this month, and this time it was with the entire staff.

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Bidunga is a priority for good reason, as he is a top-3 rated player in the class of 2024 and the best big man in the class. Recently, he was named Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Indiana and was putting up monster stats this season, averaging 20.9 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks per game.

While very interested, Kentucky does not seem to be one of the leaders for Bidunga, as things are currently trending with Cincinnati and Indiana. Last fall, Cincinnati hired Drew Adams as an Associate AD, the son of Mark Adams who runs Bidunga’s AAU team, Indiana elite.

With that said Bidunga is looking to take an official visit to Kentucky in June, and will also visit Kansas in the coming months. He has already taken a number of visits including to Indiana and Cincinnati, but only two official visits to Auburn and Florida.

Bidunga is expected to make his decision this summer, before the next school year begins. As Kentucky’s top big-man target in the class of 2024, Kentucky is definitely making sure he is a top priority.

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Scouting Report: Flory Bidunga is an elite shot blocker. He has a terrific burst off the bounce, and is very physical. His explosion and physicality allow him to be an elite big-man, and one of the best regardless of class. His college-ready frame makes him one of the best in his class.

Tre Johnson (2024, No. 1 SG, No. 1 Overall)

After stopping in to see Flory Bidunga on Friday, Kentucky traveled to watch Tre Johnson, the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2024. Seen as Kentucky’s top priority overall in the class, Kentucky is again making sure of that before he hits the Nike EYBL circuit this coming weekend.

Johnson visited Kentucky on January 27th for the game against Kansas – which is his next official visit – with all reports that the visit went well. Tre’s father, Richard, opened up about the visit, complimenting Kentucky’s facilities, NIL model, and NBA preparation. However, the loss of KT Turner does have some impact, as he is a family friend of the Johnson family.

With that said, Kentucky is seen to be in a battle with Texas and Baylor – who he has already visited – for the prized recruit, and it will be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming months in this recruitment, as he is expected to make a decision before Peach Jam in July.

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As for what he and his family are looking for, Richard, says, “he coaching, the relationships, freedom, style of play, and then the crowd, player development, who is working the guys out in practice, the strength and conditioning, the nutritionist. Most of the colleges are providing those.”

Scouting Report: As a 6-foot-5, 180-pound Shooting Guard, he is the best all-around scorer in his class, and can really fill it up. He is a terrific knock-down shooter, with great length and quickness to create and get to the rim. He shows why he is the best player in the class with his elite scoring ability.

Kentucky’s staff is making sure they’re in great shape with some of their top priorities as the AAU season continues to ramp up.

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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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