Kentucky Wildcats back in the running for Caleb Swanigan

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It has, without a doubt, been the weirdest college basketball recruitment for John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats since Terrence Jones. If we recall, Jones committed to Washington and ended up becoming a Wildcat shortly thereafter. Swanigan committed to Michigan State, but that vow to Sparty lasted only about a week or so, but Kentucky was considered out of the running and an afterthought. Just a couple of days ago, Swanigan seemed set on joining the Cal Bears and playing with Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown but was just waiting on a spot to open up.

Then last night, CBS’s Jon Rothstein dropped this Twitter bomb.

Kentucky has emerged as a legitimate landing spot for 2015 big man Caleb Swanigan, source told @CBSSports. #BBN
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 15, 2015

The Kentucky Wildcats could certainly use Swanigan. Swanigan, at 6’9 is the #13 prospect in the class but he does seem to have a lot of baggage. Apparently he has his list of demands that Tom Izzo would not meet and I don’t think that John Calipari is going to guarantee playing time either. However, the speculation abounds as to what went wrong with Sparty.

Nov 18, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Devin Booker (1) shoots a three point shot over Kansas Jayhawks guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (10) while head coach Bill Self looks on during the first half at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

The Kentucky Wildcats’s out of conference schedule just got a lot tougher with the addition of the Kansas Jayhawks on the road in January. Kentucky owns the Jayhawks overall 22-6 nad have won all three of the meetings since 2011. The fact that this will be at Allen Fieldhouse makes it special plus Kentucky will go up against a couple of recruits in Carlton Bragg and Chieck Diallo that chose the Jayhawks over them. Once again, Kentucky’s out of conference schedule will be one of the nation’s best.

"As is customary, Kentucky and Kansas are expected to be among the nation’s best teams when they meet during the 2015-16 season. UK returns Alex Poythress, Tyler Ulis and Marcus Lee next season. They will join another highly touted recruiting class. Kansas returns the core of its 2015 Big 12 championship team. Both teams are among the top 10 in various preseason national rankings. The meeting with Kansas adds to what was already a super slate of non-conference games for the 2015-16 season. Kentucky is slated to play Duke in Chicago in the Champions Classic; South Florida in Miami in the inaugural Hoophall Miami Invitational; at UCLA in the first game of a home-and-home series; Ohio State in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the CBS Sports Classic; and Louisville in Rupp Arena."

Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Last year, Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker were virtually inseparable both on and off the court as they were best friends before even arriving at Kentucky. Look for another bromance for Ulis this year as he and Charles Matthews go way back as well and Tyler can not wait for Matthews to arrive on campus.

"Ulis, who posted the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Southeastern Conference at 3.55, now has another former teammate from his pre-college days joining him in Lexington, Charles Matthews. “That’s my boy so I can’t wait for him to get here,” Ulis said of Matthews. “He’s going to be a great finisher around the rim. I know he works hard on his game and I feel like he’s going to fit in great.” The two played together on the same AAU team, and it was Matthews who Coach Cal actually recruited initially before then recruiting Ulis as well. So what does Ulis know about Matthews’ game? “Everything,” he said."

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