The offseason has arrived and John Calipari and the rest of the Kentucky staff are in full recruiting mode for the spring recruiting period.
A lot has happened in the past wee following the National Championship game, lets take a closer look at where the Cats stand and what they have been up to.
Matthew Hurt Calls Off Visits before Decision Date
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Kentucky really needs some frontcourt depth next season, and one player the UK staff would love to put on the UK blue and white is 2019 five star big, Matthew Hurt.
Hurt will decide the day before his birthday on April 19th and will choose between the four premier bluebloods in college basketball, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, & North Carolina.
Most recruiting analysts believe that all signs point to Hurt choosing Duke and that belief grew even stronger when Hurt called off in-home visits from Kentucky and Kansas on Sunday.
Duke makes the most sense, due to the fact that he will have the least amount of competition and would play the most at Duke compared to the other schools.
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Here is a recent interview of Hurt at last weekend’s Nike Hoop Summit.
https://youtu.be/7eSJb0vdLrM
Calipari Visited 2020 Five Star Jalen Johnson
John Calipari kicked off the week by taking a trip to Wisconsin to visit the No. 3 overall recruit in the 2020 class, Jalen Johnson.
Johnson was offered back in September and told CatsPause.com, “It feels great. It’s very humbling. He said they don’t really offer guys this early so being one of the few means a lot.”
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With 15 schools still on his list, Johnson is far from making a decision. However, the 24/7 Sports predictions show Duke in the lead at 71%, followed by Wisconsin at 29%.
As a junior, Johnson carried led Nicolet to a 27-1 record and its first-ever Wisconsin state championship that included a 20 point and 20 rebound title game performance.
Johnson is already being compared to NBA All-Star Paul George, and if he wants to bring his three-and-D style of play to Kentucky, he will be welcomed with open arms.
While visiting verbal commit Khalil Whitney, a 6-10 teammate of Whitney’s with a 7-6 wingspan caught Calipari’s eye. That freak athlete is Clifford Omoruyi, a rising recruit from Nigeria in the 2020 class.
Kentucky is the first elite school to show interest among other schools such as Florida, N.C. State, Miami (FL), and Seton Hall.
Omoruyi is ranked as the 56th overall recruit by Rivals and ESPN, while 24/7 Sports ranks him 74th. However, with Kentucky’s newfound interest he will likely receive a bump.
Reclassification has yet to be reported as an option. but it is something to keep an eye on if all else fails.
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UK Target Jaemyn Brakefield, will NOT reclassify
Jaemyn Brakefield, a 6-foot-8 210 pound, power forward, is considered one of the best bigs in the 2020 class. Many believed that there was a strong possibility Brakefield would reclassify and Kentucky was a real option.
Last week, Brakefield layed that belief to rest and will stay in the 2020 class and even suggested that his recruitment was far from over and is “still wide open”.
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My recruitment is still wide open and I will remain in 2020— Jaemyn Brakefield (@Jaemyn1) April 7, 2019
Brakefield has been a Kentucky target for a while and has visited Big Blue Madness the past two seasons. Brakefield is a skilled lefty that would be a great piece to next year’s recruiting class.
Cousin of NBA player Thon Maker, Makur Maker received a visit from John Calipari and Kenny Payne on Sunday.
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At 7 foot 235 pounds, Maker is an athletic specimen in the 2020 class. Maker is a bit of a mystery as he is ranked 15th by Rivals, 50th by ESPN, and 69th by 24/7 Sports.
Maker is yet to receive a scholarship offer, but with his mobility and NBA size Maker could be a “unicorn” in Lexington.
Names to Keep an Eye On
The Hauser Twins
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Could Calipari take two more graduate transfers?
On Monday, the Huaser twins of Marquette put their names into the transfer portal. Sam Hauser, a 6-8 forward, averaged 12.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting 40.2% from three. While his brother Joey, a 6-9 forward, recorded 9.7 points and 5.3 boards per game, shooting 42.5% from deep.
Virginia and Wisconsin seem to be the frontrunners those far, but if the Cats can’t find another big, maybe they could go towards a “small ball” style of play with the Hauser twins.
There are more than a thousand players in the transfer portal, meaning names are flying left and right. As of April 1st, Kentucky has one commitment in Kam Williams (Tulane), and is projected to land top 25 transfer Magoon Gwath (San Diego State).
That said, the Kentucky staff has been in contact with more than a dozen players, and there is another notable player to add to that list.
KY Insider can report that Kentucky has contacted Jaron Pierre from Jacksonville State. Pierre is currently a four-star transfer prospect and ranked as the 34th ranked prospect in 247Sports‘ transfer portal rankings.
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At Jacksonville State last season, Pierre scored more points than anyone else in college basketball (777 points), averaging 21.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 38.2% from 3-point range (9.0 attempts per game). He scored 30 points or more in six games, and only had one game where he did not score in double digits. His impressive play earned him Conference USA Player of the Year honors.
Pierre also had prior stops at Southern Miss and Wichita State, where he spent two years at each school, and will be going into his sixth season of college basketball. Pierre has also declared for the NBA Draft, but is not currently projected on any mock drafts.
While still early in his recruitment, Pierre tells KY Insider that he is “definitely” interested in Kentucky, but no Zoom meeting or visit has been scheduled.
“I love it Big Blue Nation,” Pierre said of the Kentucky program. He also really liked what Mark Pope was able to do in his first season in Lexington. “He was able to pick up right where it left off.”
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The level of competition is always a question when evaluating a mid-major talent, but Pierre’s athleticism jumps off the page and a 38.2% clip from three on nine attempts per game is nothing to slight at.
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.”
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.