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Kentucky Basketball Recruiting: Wildcats Back in the Hunt for Jarnell Stokes?

That seems to be the case, according to Evan Daniels of Scout.com. Earlier, Daniels tweeted, "Sounds like Kentucky is making a move on a new 2012 recruit: Jarnell Stokes". Stokes is a five-star prospect from Southwind in Memphis, TN. He also happens to be a teammate of 2013 PF Jonathan Williams III. Kentucky reportedly went to watch Williams practice at his high school last week, and it's possible that seeing Stokes along with Williams kindled some interest.

Kentucky had actually briefly recruited Stokes earlier this summer, but the two sides have been quiet since then after Stokes dropped the Wildcats from his list of finalists. Stokes is also considering Tennessee, Florida, Memphis, Arkansas, and Connecticut.

At the time, it appeared that Kentucky was choosing to focus its recruiting efforts on Alex Poythress. Poythress is expected to make a decision by the Early Signing Period, and Kentucky's renewed recruitment of Stokes may be an indicator that they don't expect positive news from Poythress' camp.

Getting Stokes back into the mix gives Kentucky options at the forward positions going into the spring. The Wildcats are also recruiting Amile Jefferson, Anthony Bennett, and Devonta Pollard. All three are combo forwards that would fit in nicely to Kentucky's DDMO, and it's probable that all three wait until the spring to decide. It now appears that Wildcats fans can add Stokes to that list while awaiting a Poythress decision.