It's been a long time since we have done a recruiting post here at A Sea of Blue, so since it is something of a slow news day it seems like a good time to get up to date on who UK is thought to be recruiting for 2012. Recruiting is not something we do a lot of here because so many other sites do a much better job at keeping up with it. Still, we do follow it closely, even if we don't write a lot about it.
It's always good to know the main players that Kentucky is involved with. Most of this information comes from Rivals.com, who does a good job of staying on top of who is thought to have an offer and who doesn't, and the guys with an offer are the ones we will be focusing on. There will undoubtedly be more as time goes on, and there may even be more right now, for all I know. But these are the guys that I know about.
More after the jump.
Here is the list of players thought to have a scholarship offer from Kentucky:
| Pos | Name | School | Height | Wt | Rivals Stars | Rivals pos. rnk |
| G | Kyle Anderson | Jersey City, New JerseySt. Anthony | 6'8" | 215 | 5 stars | 1 |
| Schools of interest Just about everybody, including UK, UofL, Kansas, Arizona, UCLA, St. Johns, and more. | ||||||
| G | Shabazz Muhammad | Las Vegas, NevadaBishop Gorman | 6'5" | 190 | 5 stars | 1 |
| Schools of interest: All the big names including Duke, UCLA, Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, UNC, Memphis, Texas | ||||||
| F | Brandon Ashley | Oakland, CaliforniaBishop O'Dowd | 6'8" | 225 | 5 stars | 2 |
| Schools of interest: Same as above. Washington is notably on his list, Duke not. | ||||||
| G | Archie Goodwin | Little Rock, ArkansasSylvan Hills | 6'4" | 181 | 5 stars | 3 |
| Schools of interest: Arkansas, Georgetown, Baylor, Kentucky, Illinois, UofL, Texas, Tennessee among others. | ||||||
| C | DaJuan Coleman | Dewitt, New YorkJamesville-Dewitt | 6'8" | 280 | 5 stars | 3 |
| Schools of interest: Kansas, UK, UofL, UNC, Ohio St., Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Va. Tech. | ||||||
| G | L.J. Rose | Houston, TexasSecond Baptist | 6'3" | 175 | 4 stars | 4 |
| Schools of interest: Arizona, Duke, Kansas, UK, UNC, Texas, UCLA, Florida, LSU among others. | ||||||
| F | Perry Ellis | Wichita, KansasWichita Heights | 6'8" | 220 | 5 stars | 6 |
| Schools of interest: Kansas, UK, Memphis, Oklahoma, Wichita St. | ||||||
| F | J.P. Tokoto | Menomonee Falls, WisconsinMenomonee Falls | 6'6" | 190 | 4 stars | 10 |
| Schools of interest: Uconn, Kansas, Kentucky, Marquette, UNC, UCLA, Texas Duke, IU, Tennessee among others. Deciding this week. | ||||||
Perry Ellis is much coveted by Calipari, but he is also considered one of the best players ever from the state of Kansas, which means KU will see him as a must-get. That's going to be a tough one, but if anyone can do it, it's Calipari. Ellis is a very good student as well as a very good basketball player.
Brandon Ashley is a teammate of Kyle Wiltjer, a Kentucky 2011 commit, and I suppose that is a good thing. The smart money right now has him staying out West, perhaps at Arizona, but you can't count Calipari out in any recruiting contest.
Shabazz Muhammed is thought to be a Duke or UNC lean (I have seen both claimed), but Muhammed really likes the Dribble Drive Motion. This one could come down to a battle royal between Coach K and Coach Cal. Muhammed is a scorer who gets it done inside and out.
Don't be deceived by Kyle Anderson's vitals -- he is a point guard and wants to play that position in college. Naturally, Kentucky is a great place for high-level point guards, but Anderson is very big for a college point and cannot guard the smaller, quicker players in college. In fact, he still seems to be growing and could wind up at around 6'10". Ultimately, I think coaches will prevail upon him to play the "point forward" a la Tayshaun Prince. We'll have to see how this one goes, but I am not convinced Cal will want him in the 1 spot.
DaJuan Coleman is the biggest guy of the group. He has great hands, a huge body and a good touch. He runs the floor well for his size and he's just the type of guy that Calipari would love to have in the post.
L.J. Rose is a point guard, and he has visited Kentucky back in December. He is not as heralded as most of the other guys in this lineup, but he is very talented, and a true pass-first point guard.
J.P. Tokoto is a talented wing who was recently dropped from five star to four star status. He has been around UNC a lot, and I consider him a Tar Heel lean. Tokoto is more of a slasher than a pure scorer, and part of the reason he fell was due to his perimeter form.
Finally, Archie Goodwin is a combo guard in the mold of Doron Lamb. He's more of an attacker than Lamb, but like Doron, he has a nice midrange game and can shoot the ball with range. What's best about Goodwin is his ability, and desire, to defend. I'm willing to bet we'll see Archie in Blue and White.
Okay, that's about what I know. Feel free to add to this with any observations or knowledge you might have, because I style myself as anything but an expert on recruiting matters.