Projecting out two years into the future is a heady task. The dust hasn't even fully settled on the 2011 class, so why talk about high school phenoms that are currently just sophomores and freshmen? It is, after all, hard to say how good youngsters will turn out to be, as Kentucky fans and Billy Gillispie no doubt learned with Michael Avery. Even when kids do turn out to be better than once advertised, their minds change and those initial commitments do along with it (oh hi, Austin Rivers!). Nevertheless, recruiting is an ever churning machine, and John Calipari and every other major college program coach is out scouring the underclassmen ranks for the next John Wall or Harrison Barnes. And luckily for Kentucky fans, with Calipari at the helm, there's a strong chance these 5 star hopefuls will one day sport Kentucky blue.
For our initial 2013 Big Board (which includes a handful of need-to-know 2014 prospects as well), we won't delve too deeply into offer and commitment odds. Most of these kids don't yet know exactly where they're going, nor even have a short list. Although don't tell that to Matt Painter at Purdue, who already has 4 players committed for the class of 2013. Currently, Kentucky has only one outstanding offer in each class, Nerlens Noel ('13) and Wayne Selden ('14), teammates at The Tilton School in New Hampshire. Other than that, it's a pretty wide open list that won't get narrowed down for a while. But it doesn't hurt to dream, yes?
| Name (c/o) |
Pos | School |
Ranking (Scout/Rivals/ESPNU) |
Offer (Odds) |
Commitment (Odds) | Favorite School(s) | News & Notes |
| Jabari Parker ('13) | SF | Simeon Vocational (Chicago) | Scout: 5*, 1st Rivals: 5*, 4th ESPNU: 5*, 2nd |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Illinois Duke Kansas Michigan St Washington Northwestern |
5/11/11 - Parker's top two appear to be Duke and possibly local school Illinois. It would be a big loss for the Illini if Bruce Weber can't keep the Chicago kid. For Kentucky, this may have the makings of the Andre Drummond recruitment, where there's just not much mutual interest. Given that he's a top prospect, we'll keep him on the board for now. |
| Julius Randle ('13) | PF | Prestonwood Christian (Plano, TX) | Scout: 5*, 2nd Rivals: 5*, 2nd ESPNU: 5*, 1st |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Texas Kansas Baylor Oklahoma Ohio State Kentucky |
5/22/11 - UNC was the latest "blue blood" school to offer Randle, although he should be considered Big 12 bound until otherwise rumored. Kentucky has not offered but is very interested in the talented Texas product. |
| Nerlens Noel ('13) | C | The Tilton School (Tilton, NH) | Scout: 5*, 3rd Rivals: 5*, 5th ESPNU: 5*, 3rd |
Offered (4/7/11) | N/A | UConn Kentucky Florida Georgetown Kansas Providence |
4/7/11 - John Calipari offered Noel and teammate Wayne Selden ('14) after watching a scrimmage at The Tilton School. |
| Chris Walker ('13) | PF | Holmes County (Bonifay, FL) | Scout: 5*, 4th Rivals: 5*, 3rd ESPNU: 5*, 4th |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Florida Florida St Kentucky Georgia UCF Duke |
4/24/11 - Walker tweeted that he has a favorite school, although he declined to say which one. He's been rumored to favor Kentucky, but local school Florida also could be the favorite. |
| Chris Thomas ('13) | SG | Westwind Academy (Phoenix) | Scout: 5*, 5th Rivals: 5*, 6th ESPNU: 5*, 5th |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Arizona Memphis Tennessee Xavier Kansas Kentucky |
4/27/11 - Thomas took an unofficial visit to Arizona, which should be considered the favorite at this point. |
| Andrew Harrison ('13) | PG/SG | Travis (Richmond, TX) | Scout: 5*, 7th Rivals: 5*, 1st ESPNU: 5*, 8th |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Texas Kansas Baylor Arizona Texas A&M Maryland |
5/10/11 - Andrew and twin brother Aaron will likely commit to the same school. Fellow AAU teammate Shaq Cleare ('12) was close to committing to Maryland prior to the retirement of Gary Williams, and it's possible that the Harrison twins end up following Cleare's footsteps. Kentucky is interested but has not offered. |
| Kuran Iverson ('13) | SF | Northwest Catholic (West Hartford, CT) | Scout: 5*, 8th Rivals: 5*, 8th ESPNU: 5*, 12th |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Georgetown Kentucky Louisville Villanova UConn Pittsburgh |
7/14/10 - A long time ago, Iverson called Georgetown and Kentucky his two favorites. Kuran is the nephew of former Hoya Allen Iverson. |
| Jonathan Williams ('13) | PF | Southwind (Memphis) | Scout: 5*, 8th Rivals: 5*, 10th ESPNU: 5*, 10th |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Tennessee Memphis Georgetown Missouri Texas Kentucky |
5/25/11 - Haven't been able to find much on Williams, but as a Memphis kid, my gut feeling is that he may be hard to pull out of the state of Tennessee. |
| Aaron Harrison ('13) | SG | Travis (Richmond, TX) | Scout: 5*, 12th Rivals: 5*, 9th ESPNU: 5*, 16th |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Texas Kansas Baylor Arizona Texas A&M Maryland |
5/10/11 - Aaron and twin brother Andrew will likely commit to the same school. Fellow AAU teammate Shaq Cleare ('12) was close to committing to Maryland prior to the retirement of Gary Williams, and it's possible that the Harrison twins end up following Cleare's footsteps. Kentucky is interested but has not offered. |
| Solomon Poole ('13) | PG/SG | Terry Parker (Jacksonville, FL) | Scout: 4*, 24th Rivals: 5*, 12th ESPNU: 4*, 25th |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Florida Kentucky Georgia Tennessee Auburn Okla St |
5/4/11 - Solomon, the younger brother of current Wildcat Stacey Poole, has Florida and Kentucky as favorites. Neither has offered to date. |
| Isaiah Lewis ('13) | PG/SG | Christ the King (Brooklyn) | Scout: 4*, 39th Rivals: 4*, 43rd ESPNU: 3*, 100th |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Kentucky Arizona St. John's UConn Ohio St Florida |
5/18/11 - Per Scout, Lewis is "waiting" on a Kentucky offer and would commit if offered. |
| Tyler Ennis ('13) | PG | St. Benedict's (Newark, NJ) | Scout: 4*, 50th Rivals: 4*, 52nd ESPNU: 4*, 48th |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | Rutgers Seton Hall Florida Kentucky WVU Georgetown |
1/16/11 - Ennis is from the Canadian pipeline that has produced players like Texas' Tristan Thompson. He's a recent transfer to Thompson's former school St. Benedict's, and should gain more attention as he keeps playing in the states. |
| Theo Pinson ('14) | SG | Oak Ridge Military (Oak Ridge, NC) | Scout: UR Rivals: UR ESPNU: 5*, 1st |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | TBD |
5/18/11 - Pinson, who plays on the same AAU club as Rodney Purvis, may be Carolina dyed through and through, whether it's Duke, UNC, or NC State. It's early, but it may be hard-pressed to get him out of the Tar Heel State. |
| Dakari Johnson ('14) | C/PF | St. Patrick (Elizabeth, NJ) | Scout: UR Rivals: UR ESPNU: 5*, 2nd |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | TBD |
3/25/11 - Johnson has been hyped as the "best 14 year-old big man." He played at St. Patrick as a freshman alongside future Wildcat Michael Gilchrist. |
| Andrew Wiggins ('14) | SF | Vaughn (Toronto, ON) | Scout: UR Rivals: UR ESPNU: 5*, 3rd |
Not Yet Offered | N/A | TBD |
8/17/10 - Wiggins is the latest in a long line of hyped Canadians to end up in the states, and may end up being the best of them all. He's been called Canada's basketball version of Sidney Crosby. Wiggins plays for Ro Russell's Canada Grassroots AAU program and will likely move on to Russell's Christian Faith Academy in North Carolina starting next year. |
| Wayne Selden ('14) | SF/SG | The Tilton School (Tilton, NH) | Scout: UR Rivals: UR ESPNU: 5*, 5th |
Offered (4/7/11) |
N/A | TBD |
4/7/11 - John Calipari offered Selden and teammate Nerlens Noel ('13) after watching a scrimmage at The Tilton School. |
Scholarship Situation
Too early to tell, obviously. If (and that's a huge if) Kentucky keeps all of its eligible players, that 2013 list would be seniors Stacey Poole, Doron Lamb, and Terrence Jones, and juniors Anthony Davis, Michael Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Kyle Wiltjer. As they say in Texas, that ain't happenin', y'all. At minimum, Kentucky currently will have 6 scholarships to allocate between the 2012 and 2013 classes.
Remaining Targets (Needs: TBD)/Outlook
The class of 2013 looks like a lot of local battles for the Wildcats, something John Calipari is quite accustomed to by this point (Wall from North Carolina, Knight from Florida, etc.). Despite interest from a lot of the top prospects, Calipari has been seriously stingy with his offers to date. It came as a bit of a surprise when the scholarship offer was extended to Noel and Selden, The Tilton School teammates, but Calipari must have felt good enough on both to do so. As the timeline progresses, this list will get narrowed and modified as mutual interest bubbles to the surface. In the meantime, expect both Calipari and Kentucky fans to keep a much closer eye on the class of 2012.
Other Recruiting Big Boards
2012 Version 1 (4/21/11)
2011 Version 2 (4/25/11)
2011 Version 1 (4/15/11)