by Paul Jordan
I think this year, more than any other, I have gained a greater appreciation of what it means to be the basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. And I have come to the realization that John Calipari is worth every penny that UK is paying him. Not only is the guy the head basketball coach of the third ranked team in the country, he also is the most recognizable figure in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and has to tend to promoting the University with a myriad of interviews and appearances. Plus, don’t forget about recruiting the 2010 class while trying to open SEC conference play. But recruiting is what we are looking at today. It’s been a while since we looked at the 2010 class, so lets see that the latest rumors and speculation is.
BRANDON KNIGHT: Things have been kind of quiet on the Brandon Knight watch the last month or so and from all appearances, he will be an April or May commitment. He still has a final four list of Kentucky, Kansas, UConn, and Florida. Although there has really been no verification of this in print, a lot of Gator fans are feeling more and more confident and feel that Knight is Florida’s to lose. A lot of this speculation is based on Knight’s friendship with Kenny Boynton and his AAU associations with Austin Rivers. Knight has said on occasion that he will not be swayed to a certain school based on friends he may have on the roster.
There are a lot of things that can change the environment at the school between now and April. There are questions as to whether Kemba Walker will stay at Connecticut (speculation is that he will) or if John Wall will depart Kentucky (he probably will). Kansas is an interesting choice because they appear to be loaded at the guard position for next season and the best thing for Knight is to see what attrition may occur on the current school’s rosters. Some publications still consider Florida a darkhorse, but as of now, I think that it may come down to Florida and Kentucky. For what it is worth, Connecticut is stepping up their recruitment of Josh Selby.
JOSH SELBY – There has been a lot of movement in the Josh Selby recruitment right now, but none of it seems to be an indication of where he is leaning. Selby may actually be the last player to make his decision, and he may actually wait until after Brandon Knight announces. There’s nothing wrong with that. After an early commit to Tennessee, Josh and his mother are doing a lot of research. Josh was scheduled to visit UK for the UK/UL game but cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. They have re-scheduled with UK and will visit on March 7, against Florida. Selby and his mom are visiting Arizona this weekend (along with Doron Lamb) but it appears that Selby’s mom has concerns as to whether Arizona can reach Elite status by next season. The pair have already taken a visit to Syracuse and Indiana and Kansas is on the calendar for February 13. There is also speculation that UConn, who Selby had previously crossed off his list, is creeping back into the picture.
C.J LESLIE – Leslie has to be considered a Kentucky lean just because of his recent statements, but C.J insists that he is wide open in his decision making and that there is no clear leader right now. C.J was recently at a North Carolina State game and it appears that he is once again looking at the Wolfpack. Leslie was an early NC State commit but did de-commit. The NC State game may have served a dual recruiting purpose for Leslie as he was spotted outside the UF locker room talking with Billy Donovan after the game. Leslie has a final list right now of Kentucky, Florida, FIU, Georgia Tech and NC State. Leslie was in Lexington this weekend for a HS tournament and found most of the UK basketball team in the stands rooting for him. He seems to have general affection for UK and their fans, but time will tell if that results in a commitment. To see video of Leslie talking about his recruitment, scroll down a bit or click here.
DORON LAMB – Lamb appears to be heading into the decision making part of his recruitment right now. He is visitting Arizona this weekend and that would complete the last of his visits. It appears that he has settled on a final five of “Kentucky, Kansas, UConn, Arizona, and West Virginia” Lamb has delayed his decision a few times and at different times has seemed a Kentucky or a Kansas lean. There are those that feel that the longer Lamb waits, the better it looks for Arizona. There is really no timetable for Doron, but his dad says he will commit when they are comfortable with their decision.
TERRENCE JONES – Jones has been really quiet lately but Kentucky is sti
ll in the mix. He has recently said that he is looking at “Kentucky, Oklahoma, Washington, Oregon, UCLA, West Virginia, and Texas“. Jones says that he is going to give everybody the same opportunity and that he will make a decision out of those schools in April.
TERRENCE ROSS – Ross is a new name for Kentucky fans because as of recently, he was a Maryland commit. As of now, he has de-committed from the Terrapins and is looking at just four schools: Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, and Maryland. Some Maryland bloggers say that he is a Duke lean and has no chance at coming back to Maryland. Same article says that Nike is a factor and Kentucky is a Nike school and only Maryland is not on that list. If you have a little bit of time, here is another post from the Maryland blogger. In it, he seems to think that Coach K may be guilty of tampering. If that is true, you can certainly say the same about Coach K and Austin Rivers, a Florida commit. I guess watching Roy Williams win titles is starting to get old with Coach K, and he is looking to win at all costs.
RICARDO RATLIFF and ELOY VARGAS – UK may still dip into the JUCO ranks if needed to fill any spots in their recruiting class. UK recently paid a visit to Ricardo Ratliff, the number one JUCO player, and have also kept in contact with Vargas, a former Florida Gator.
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