Are the Kentucky Wildcats making up ground on Cheick Diallo?

1 of 2

More from Kentucky Wildcats News

Let’s face it. It’s been a couple of rough days for Kentucky Wildcats basketball recruiting. Even though it was sort of expected, it still hurt when Stephen Zimmerman picked UNLV. And the Mike Thorne pick of Illinois was a true stunner. Perhaps the biggest shock to me was that Thorne did not even take a visit to Lexington. While this brought most of the BBN into a “gloom and doom” mode, there does appear to be some renewed hope in the case of Cheick Diallo.

John Calipari and Kenny Payne met with Diallo last night and Calipari has been on the recruiting trail all weekend.

"Diallo has already met with head coaches from St. John’s and Kansas this week. Iowa State and Pittsburgh are also on his list of finalists. Meanwhile, five-star small forward Brandon Ingram confirmed to the Herald-Leader that he met with Calipari as planned Friday night. Ingram is also considering Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, N.C. State and UCLA. The Herald-Leader has also confirmed that Calipari visited five-star combo guard Jamal Murray during his trip to Canada on Saturday. It’s still not confirmed whether the UK coach met with Murray’s five-star high school teammate, Thon Maker. Murray is currently in the class of 2016, though he is considering a move to 2015 that would allow him to play college basketball next season. Duke is among the other schools on his list."

Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Mychal Mulder will visit Lexington next weekend and according to some reports, he does have a Kentucky Wildcats offer. The more I learn about Mulder, the more I like him and think he will be a great fit. He does fill that sharpshooter need and would be a very nice two-year player.

"Mulder — a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Windsor, Ontario — averaged 15.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game this past season at Vincennes University, which finished 33-2. He also made 88 three-pointers and shot 44.7 percent from long range. Kentucky has ramped up its recruitment of Mulder in the past couple of weeks. A Canadian-based website reported Saturday that he had received a scholarship offer from UK, though that has not yet been confirmed. The original plan was to get Mulder on campus before extending an offer. Whether or not he has one, it’s clear that UK is extremely interested. The Cats have a major need for solid three-point shooter for next season, and Mulder has also been described as an athletic player who is a serviceable defender and is also highly coachable. Mulder has scholarship offers from Wichita State, Missouri, Minnesota, Mississippi State Georgia Tech and Creighton, among others. He will have two seasons of eligibility starting next season."

One of the more intriguing prospects in this class is Canadian Jamal Murray. Murray is currently a member of the 2016 class but is ranked as the #18 pick in the NBA Draft that year by some mock drafts. He could reclassify and play college next year or stay in Canada and head right to the NBA from prep school. No matter what happens, John Calipari has made it clear that he will take him as a member of the Kentucky Wildcats in either 2015 or 2016.

"Kentucky coach John Calipari met with Canadian point guard Jamal Murray and his family on Saturday in Ontario following the Wizards-Raptors game, and the message the Hall of Fame coach sent was that he’s ready to take the 6-foot-5 lead guard “anytime.” “Just like any other school’s message, they would take him anytime [in 2015 or 2016],” Roger Murray, the player’s father, told SNY.tv by phone Sunday evening. A scholarship offer is understood. This was the first time Roger Murray had met Calipari, although he has met the staff before. Calipari was with assistant Kenny Payne. “We’ve been in contact before [with Kentucky],” Roger said. “It’s not like this is the first time Kentucky talked to us or anything like that.”"

Home/Kentucky Wildcats News