The Kentucky Wildcats' 2013 recruiting class is in the books. It's a class ranked #1 by all the major recruiting services (Rivals, Scout, ESPN & 247), based mostly on quality, but also quantity. There are a lot of new faces, as eight high school seniors will be added to next year's roster.
Six of those players (as evidenced by the lead photo) were McDonald's All-Americans. According to the 247 Composite, an aggregate ranker based on multiple recruiting service rankings, Kentucky will bring in five National Top 10 players. That's simply incredible.
The class, prior to on-the-court performance, is already regarded as one of the best of all-time. But for them to keep that stature, they'll need to produce a great 2013-14 season. I, for one, won't be betting against them.
Kentucky Commitments & Signees
Name | Pos | School (Hometown) | 247 Composite Ranking | Status [Offer / Commit / Sign] | Other Finalists |
Dakari Johnson | C | Montverde (FL) Academy (New York, NY) |
5*, 10th | [O] 11/12 [C] 01/06/13 [S] 04/18/13 |
Syracuse Georgetown |
Marcus Lee | C/PF | Deer Valley (Antioch, CA) |
5*, 17th | [O] 09/16/12 [C] 10/17/12 [S] 11/14/12 |
California Louisville |
Julius Randle | PF | Prestonwood Christian (Plano, TX) |
5*, 2nd | [O] 2012 [C] 03/20/13 [S] 04/18/13 |
Texas Kansas Florida |
Derek Willis | PF | Bullitt East (Mt. Washington, KY) |
4*, 130th | [O] 2011 [C] 01/20/12 [S] 11/14/12 |
Indiana Louisville Purdue |
James Young | SF/SG | Rochester (Troy, MI) |
5*, 9th | [O] 06/12 [C] 10/11/12 [S] 11/14/12 |
Syracuse Kansas Michigan St |
Aaron Harrison | SG/PG | Travis (Fort Bend, TX) |
5*, 6th | [O] 2011 [C] 10/04/12 [S] 11/14/12 |
Maryland SMU |
Andrew Harrison | PG | Travis (Fort Bend, TX) |
5*, 4th | [O] 2011 [C] 10/04/12 [S] 11/14/12 |
Maryland SMU |
Dominique Hawkins |
PG | Madison Central (Richmond, KY) |
2*, 253rd | [O] 03/28/13 [C] 04/10/13 [S] 04/17/13 |
Purdue S Carolina |
Offered But Committed Elsewhere
Name | Pos | School (Hometown) | 247 Composite Ranking | Status | Other Finalists |
Kennedy Meeks |
C | West Charlotte (Charlotte, NC) |
4*, 55th | Signed with North Carolina |
Georgetown Indiana NC State |
Aaron Gordon | PF/SF | Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, CA) |
5*, 5th | Signed with Arizona |
Washington Oregon |
Johnathan Williams III |
PF | Southwind (Memphis, TN) |
4*, 46th | Signed with Missouri |
Michigan St Tennessee Georgetown |
Andrew Wiggins | SF | Huntington (WV) Prep (Toronto, ONT) |
5*, 1st | Signed with Kansas |
Florida St UNC |
Jabari Parker |
SF | Simeon Vacational (Chicago, IL) |
5*, 3rd | Signed with Duke |
Michigan St Florida BYU |
Tyler Roberson |
SF/PF | Roselle Catholic (Union, NJ) |
5*, 41st | Signed with Syracuse |
Villanova Kansas SMU |
Troy Williams |
SF | Oak Hill Academy (Hampton, VA) |
4*, 53rd | Signed with Indiana |
Ohio St UNC Louisville |
Wayne Selden |
SG/SF |
The Tilton School (Boston, MA) |
5*, 13th | Signed with Kansas |
Florida Syracuse Missouri |
Kasey Hill |
PG |
Montverde Academy (Eustis, FL) |
5*, 8th | Signed with Florida |
Florida St Kansas Louisville |
Scholarship Situation
In addition to the eight signed players in the class of 2013, Kentucky returns five players on scholarship for the 2013-14 season (rising class indicated): Jon Hood (RS senior), Jarrod Polson (senior), Kyle Wiltjer (junior), Willie Cauley-Stein (sophomore), and Alex Poythress (sophomore). That gives the Wildcats a full complement of 13 scholarships next season.
Departing from last year's team are Julius Mays (graduation), Ryan Harrow (transfer), Nerlens Noel (declared for NBA Draft), and Archie Goodwin (declared for NBA Draft).
Key Misses
The 2012 recruiting class saw some key misses down the stretch. Most notably, Shabazz Muhammad, a strong contender for the #1 prospect overall alongside Nerlens Noel, picked UCLA over Kentucky. On a team that often struggled to score the ball, the Wildcats could have really used Muhammad and his "I just get buckets" game. In May, Kentucky lost out on forward Anthony Bennett, who vastly outplayed Alex Poythress en route to freshmen All-American honors. Finally, forward Amile Jefferson, who could have provided quality depth, chose Duke in mid-May.
Time will tell if John Calipari picked his recruits correctly, but ultimately, Kentucky lost only one recruit it really wanted. That would be uber-prospect Andrew Wiggins, ranked as the consensus #1 prospect in the nation. Wiggins would have been the ultimate cherry on top of an already stout recruiting class. Fortunately, Kentucky has depth at the 3, with Poythress joined by incoming recruit, James Young.
The 2013 recruiting class is considered "Top 6"-deep, with any of the six top-ranked recruits a viable candidate for #1 overall (well, in a non-Wiggins year, anyway). Besides Wiggins, Kentucky also lost out on Chicago prep legend Jabari Parker, a race that Calipari bowed out of last fall. Meanwhile, the Wildcats stuck around for Californian Aaron Gordon, though the commitment of Randle seemingly shut the door on that recruitment as well.
Other extended offers either came earlier in a prospect's career (like Troy Williams) or were hedge offers against other preferred prospects (like Kennedy Meeks). As much as we would like to see it, Kentucky can't take 'em all.
Class Overview
There's not much more to say about this group that hasn't already been spilled on ink. On paper, this is a legendary recruiting class.
The three Texans, Julius Randle and the Harrison twins, are expected to start immediately. James Young and Dakari Johnson should provide significant backup minutes, while Marcus Lee's explosive defensive ability may be too exciting to keep him chained to the bench. The Texans should be considered one-and-done prospects, and Calipari should consider himself fortunate if he's able to squeeze any more years out of the latter three All-Americans.
No one really doubts Coach Cal's ability to turn precocious high school All-Americans into NBA Draft picks. However, he has also done a sneaky good job in developing less heralded players. After a trying 2012-13 season that featured little upperclassmen depth, Calipari has tweaked his recruiting approach to compensate. Don't sleep on the two local Kentucky stars, Derek Willis and Dominique Hawkins. Getting any production out of these two next year is a luxury. However, both players will be given ample time to develop, and will hopefully become key contributors to successful Kentucky teams down the road.
Get your hype meter up for the 2013-14 season. Some serious talent is inbound.
Older Recruiting Big Boards
2013: 3/27/13 | 10/11/12 | 7/5/12 | 12/6/11 | 5/25/11
2014: 10/24/12 | 7/11/12 | 5/25/11