2014 Kentucky Wildcats Recruiting Big Board: October '12 Edition

Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari doesn't typically take commitments from recruits prior to their senior years. Since coming to Kentucky, Calipari has had just three such prospects. The 2011 class saw Marquis Teague and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist commit in April 2010, and the 2013 class received a January 2012 commitment from currently unsigned Derek Willis.

Translation: don't expect a commitment from a 2014 prospect anytime soon. That said, Coach Cal fired up the private jet this fall and zoomed across the nation. In doing so, he extended quite a few offers (some earlier, via phone) and made it clear which top prospects the Wildcats are targeting.

Yes, the 2013 recruiting season is in full force, and Kentucky's could be the greatest class ever. Well, until 2014, anyway.

Name	Pos	School (Hometown)	Ranking (Scout/Rivals/ESPN/247)	Offer (Odds)	Commitment (Odds)	Favorite School(s)	News & Notes	Trending (since 5/25/11)
Cliff Alexander	C	Curie (Chicago, IL)	Scout: 5*/5 Rivals: 5*/6 ESPN: 5*/9 247: 5*/8	Offered (7/24/12)	55%	Kentucky Michigan St Florida Illinois Wisconsin	Offered 7/24. In-home visit on 9/19. Unofficially visited MSU on 9/21. Attended Big Blue Madness on 10/12.
Jahlil Okafor	C	Whitney Young (Chicago, IL)	Scout: 5*/4 Rivals: 5*/2 ESPN: 5*/3 247: 5*/5	Offered (9/19/12)	25%	Duke UNC Ohio St Arizona Florida Kentucky	In-home visit and offered on 9/19. Unofficially visited Duke on 10/19 and UNC on 10/20.
Dakari Johnson	C	Montverde Academy (New York, NY)	Scout: 5*/6 Rivals: 5*/7 ESPN: 5*/4 247: 5*/13	Not Yet Offered (50%)	N/A	Florida Syracuse Kentucky Kansas Florida St	Unofficially visited Syracuse on 9/15 and Florida on 10/6. Did not receive in-home visit from UK this fall.
Trey Lyles	PF	Arsenal Technical (Indianapolis, IN)	Scout: 5*/7 Rivals: 5*/8 ESPN: 5*/6 247: 5*/9	Offered (9/10/12)	40%	Kentucky Duke Louisville Florida Michigan St Indiana	Unofficial visit on 9/8. In-home visit and offered on 9/10. Attended Big Blue Madness on 10/12.	**NEW**
Shane Hall	PF	Johnson Central (Prestonburg, KY)	Scout: 4*/63 Rivals: 4*/86 ESPN: 3*/UR 247: 4*/45	Not Yet Offered (5%)	N/A	Butler Xavier Virginia Tech UAB	Unofficially visited Virginia Tech on 10/9.
Andrew Wiggins	SF	Huntington Prep (Toronto, ONT)	Scout: 5*/1 Rivals: 5*/1 ESPN: 5*/1 247: 5*/1	Offered	55%	Kentucky Florida St UNC	In-home visit on 9/13. Scheduled to attend Big Blue Madness but went home instead. Undecided about 2013 reclassification.
Stanley Johnson	SF	Mater Dei (Fullerton, CA)	Scout: 4*/27 Rivals: 5*/17 ESPN: 4*/23 247: 5*/16	Offered (7/31/12)	15%	Arizona UCLA USC Kentucky Washington SDSU Oregon	Offered 7/31. In-home visit on 9/11.
Justise Winslow	SF	St. John's (Houston, TX)	Scout: 5*/9 Rivals: 5*/9 ESPN: 5*/10 247: 5*/6	Not Yet Offered (35%)	N/A	Arizona Texas Baylor Texas A&M Houston UCLA Duke	Went to Baylor's Midnight Madness on 10/12. Unofficially visited to Arizona on 10/20.
Theo Pinson	SF	Weslayan Christian (Greensboro, NC)	Scout: 5*/12 Rivals: 5*/14 ESPN: 5*/8 247: 5*/11	Not Yet Offered (35%)	N/A	NC St UNC Duke Indiana Georgetown S Carolina	Unofficially visited USC on 10/6. Went to NC State's Midnight Madness on 10/12. Unofficially visited Duke on 10/19 and UNC on 10/20.
Jalen Lindsey	SF	Christian Presbyterian Academy (Franklin, TN)	Scout: 5*/23 Rivals: 4*/33 ESPN: 5*/15 247: 4*/36	Not Yet Offered (35%)	N/A	Alabama Auburn NC St Florida St Tennessee Providence	Unofficially visited Tennessee on 9/22 and Alabama on 9/29.
Shaqquan Aaron	SF	Rainier Beach (Woodland Hills, CA)	Scout: 4*/30 Rivals: 4*/30 ESPN: 5*/17 247: 4*/36	Not Yet Offered (15%)	N/A	Washington Arizona Louisville UCLA Kansas	Transferred from local HS Taft to Rainier Beach in Washington. Unofficially visited Washington on 10/14.
Paul White	SF	Whitney Young (Chicago, IL)	Scout: 4*/45 Rivals: 4*/58 ESPN: 4*/56 247: 4*/UR	Not Yet Offered (15%)	N/A	Arizona Marquette DePaul Illinois Indiana	Went to Marquette's Midnight Madness on 10/12.
Rashad Vaughn	SG	Robbinsdale Cooper (Minneapolis, MN)	Scout: 5*/15 Rivals: 5*/15 ESPN: 5*/11 247: 5*/12	Offered (9/21/12)	20%	Minnesota Kentucky Baylor Kansas Maryland Syracuse	In-home visit and offered on 9/21. Went to Minnesota's Midnight Madness on 10/12.
D'Angelo Russell	SG	Montverde Academy (Louisville, KY)	Scout: 5*/11 Rivals: 5*/13 ESPN: 5*/14 247: 5*/18	Not Yet Offered (50%)	N/A	Louisville Kentucky UNC Missouri Ohio St Memphis	Unofficial visit on 6/25. Did not receive in-home visit from UK in Sep.
Isaiah Whitehead	SG	Abraham Lincoln (Brooklyn)	Scout: 4*/41 Rivals: 5*/16 ESPN: 4*/42 247: 4*/29	Not Yet Offered (25%)	N/A	Syracuse UConn Rutgers Arizona St. John's Kentucky	Went to St. John's Midnight Madness on 10/12.
Emmanuel Mudiay	PG	Grace Preparatory (Arlington, TX)	Scout: 5*/3 Rivals: 5*/4 ESPN: 5*/5 247: 5*/2	Offered (8/14/12)	40%	Texas Baylor Kentucky Oklahoma SMU Arizona Kansas	Offered in July (public on 8/14). In-home visit on 9/10. Went to Baylor's Midnight Madness on 10/12.
Tyus Jones	PG	Apple Valley (Apple Valley, MN)	Scout: 5*/2 Rivals: 5*/5 ESPN: 5*/2 247: 5*/3	Offered (7/20/12)	15%	Duke Ohio St Indiana Baylor Arizona Minnesota Kentucky	Offered 7/20. In-home visit on 9/10. Unofficially visited Duke on 10/19 and UNC on 10/20.
Jaquan Lyle	PG	Benjamin Bosse (Evansville, IN)	Scout: 5*/14 Rivals: 5*/19 ESPN: 5*/16 247: 4*/21	Not Yet Offered (50%)	N/A	Louisville Michigan St Ohio St Kentucky Texas Indiana Illinois	Attended Big Blue Madness on 10/12. Unofficially visited Louisville on 10/13 and Indiana on 10/20.

Scholarship Situation

Kentucky currently has six players on scholarship for the 2014-15 season: Ryan Harrow (RS senior), Kyle Wiltjer (senior), Nerlens Noel (junior), Willie Cauley-Stein (junior), Archie Goodwin (junior), and Alex Poythress (junior). Honestly, there is a pretty good chance all of them are playing professionally by 2014.

Recruit Overview - Offers

By taking in-home visits and extending select offers, Kentucky head coach John Calipari has made it perfectly clear which prospects are highest on the wish list.

The first name to know is all-world small forward Andrew Wiggins. There is a chance that Wiggins won't be in the class much longer; speculation is rampant that he will reclassify to 2013 (and then, hopefully, pick Kentucky). As long as he's officially classed to 2014, he'll stay on this board, with Kentucky and the Florida St. Seminoles considered his co-leaders.

A Calipari class is never complete without a point guard, and Kentucky has offered two. Emmanuel Mudiay, who also likes in-state programs like the Texas Longhorns and Baylor Bears, has long been on Kentucky's radar and has repeatedly expressed interest in playing for Big Blue. Tyus Jones is a Minnesota kid. The Wildcats just recently initiated contact with Jones and should be considered a long shot...for now. You knew this already, but Calipari aims high: Jones and Mudiay are widely considered the top two point guard prospects in the class.

The 2014 class is center-heavy, and Kentucky offered the two best centers in the country in Cliff Alexander and Jahlil Okafor. They're both from the Chicago area, and--paging Anthony Davis--Kentucky knows a thing or two about Windy City bigs. Alexander also really likes the Michigan St. Spartans but is considered (at this point, anyway) a Kentucky lean. Okafor looks like a harder sell, with typical players the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels involved.

Here are three more recruits to know. The first is Trey Lyles, a power forward who recently decommitted from Indiana. Lyles attended Big Blue Madness along with Alexander and Jaquan Lyle (more on him below). Having just landed Californian Marcus Lee in the 2013 class, Kentucky could be set to take another elite West Coast prospect in small forward Stanley Johnson, who called Lexington a "must visit" last summer. Finally, the only offer out to a shooting guard is to Rashad Vaughn, somewhat of a surprise offer as he was one of the last visits Calipari took in September.

Recruit Overview - Possible Targets

The biggest surprise non-offer was Dakari Johnson, a center from the New York area that has been on Kentucky's radar since his freshman year when Johnson played with ex-Wildcat Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Johnson, who now plays at Montverde Academy and has shown interest in the Florida Gators and Syracuse Orange, is falling in priority for Kentucky.

The other surprise is a non-offer to Jaquan Lyle, who was the only recruit--regardless of class--at Big Blue Madness not to possess an offer. Lyle isn't as highly regarded as fellow point guards Mudiay and Jones, but is still a five-star prospect in his own right. His offer may come soon, especially if Calipari doesn't like where Kentucky stands in Mudiay and Jones' recruitments.

With less certainty at the wing, there are a lot more names to know. Should Wiggins reclassify, a plethora of small forwards beyond Stanley Johnson have some Kentucky interest. Those names include consensus five-stars Justise Winslow and Theo Pinson, along with top 50 prospects like Jalen Lindsey and Shaqquan Aaron. Filed under possible but unlikely, Paul White is teammates with Okafor and may rise up boards with a strong senior season, while local prospect Shane Hall is a promising combo forward that could earn a merited local offer, a la Jon Hood or Derek Willis.

One name that is no longer around is Leron Black, a combo forward that, growing up in Memphis, idolized Calipari. Black committed to Baylor last month.

Local product D'Angelo Russell is the big name at shooting guard. Like Hall, Russell is from the state of Kentucky, though Russell now plays at Montverde alongside Dakari Johnson. Curiously like Johnson, Russell did not receive an in-home visit in September and does not possess and Kentucky offer. Isaiah Whitehead, a native of New York, is a carryover from the last board but hasn't received any updated interest.

Other Recruiting Big Boards

2012 | 4/10/12 | 2/24/12 | 11/21/11 | 9/23/11 | 7/25/11 | 4/21/11
2013 | 10/11/12 | 7/5/12 | 12/6/11 | 5/25/11
2014 | 7/11/12 | 5/25/11