2014 Kentucky Wildcats Recruiting Big Board: May '13 Edition

With the 2013 recruiting class in the books, the Kentucky Wildcats and its coaching staff of powerhouse recruiters turn their eyes to 2014. With classes ending across the nation and AAU season in full swing, there are plenty of opportunities to check out some of Kentucky's top targets.

Head coach John Calipari already has one commitment on board for 2014. That would be Karl Towns, who committed to the Wildcats back in December. He's the bell cow of the class. After playing for Calipari as a representative for the Dominican Republic national team, Towns is already out "recruiting" his fellow '14 rising seniors to don Kentucky blue.

Top targets already hold offers, but expect new names (and possibly subsequent offers) to arise throughout the summer. As it stands, here is the latest Big Board.

Commitments

Name	Pos	School (Hometown)	247 Composite Ranking	Status [Offer / Commit / Sign]	Other Finalists
Karl Towns	PF/C	St. Joseph (Metuchen, NJ)	5*, 9th	[O] 09/04/12 [C] 12/04/12 [S] Exp 11/13	Duke Florida Connecticut

Outstanding Offers

Name	Pos	School (Hometown)	247 Composite Ranking	Status [Offer / Commit / Sign]	Other Interest
Jahlil Okafor	C	Whitney Young (Chicago, IL)	5*, 1st	[O] 09/20/12	Duke Michigan St Ohio St Baylor Kansas Louisville
Cliff Alexander	C/PF	Curie (Chicago, IL)	5*, 7th	[O] 07/17/12	Michigan St Illinois Kansas
Trey Lyles	PF	Arsenal Tech (Indianapolis, IN)	5*, 4th	[O] 09/11/12	Louisville Florida Duke UCLA Butler
Stanley Johnson	SF/SG	Mater Dei (Fullerton, CA)	5*, 13th	[O] 08/01/12	Arizona UCLA USC Oregon Duke Florida
Rashad Vaughn	SG	Cooper (Minneapolis, MN)	5*, 8th	[O] 09/24/12	UNC Duke Louisville Minnesota Kansas Baylor Iowa St
Devin Booker	SG	Moss Point (Moss Point, MS)	5*, 21st	[O] 04/24/13	Duke Michigan Michigan St Florida UNC Missouri
Emmanuel Mudiay	PG	Prime Prep (Arlington, TX)	5*, 2nd	[O] 08/14/12	Baylor Arizona Kansas OK St
Tyus Jones	PG	Apple Valley (Apple Valley, MN)	5*, 3rd	[O] 07/20/12	Duke Michigan St Minnesota Ohio St Baylor Kansas

Strong Interest

Name	Pos	School (Hometown)	247 Composite Ranking	Status	Other Interest
Goodluck Okonoboh	C	Wilbraham & Monson (Boston, MA)	4*, 28th	Not Yet Offered	Indiana Syracuse Connecticut Providence Maryland
Leron Black	PF/SF	White Station (Memphis, TN)	5*, 16th	Not Yet Offered	Baylor Florida Illinois NC St Ohio St Connecticut
Craig Victor	PF	St. Augustine (New Orleans, LA)	4*, 33rd	Not Yet Offered	Arizona LSU Florida Oklahoma OK St
Abdul Malik-Abu	PF	Kimball Union (Meridien, NH)	4*, 56th	Not Yet Offered	Wisconsin Connecticut Providence Florida Kansas St
Shane Hall	PF	Johnson Central (Paintsville, KY)	4*, 84th	Not Yet Offered	Butler Tennessee Xavier UAB
D.J. Foreman	PF	Massanuten Military (Spring Valley, NY)	4*, 103rd	Not Yet Offered	Rhode Island Providence Minnesota
Theo Pinson	SF	Wesleyan Christian (Greensboro, NC)	5*, 12th	Not Yet Offered	Indiana Duke UNC Louisville Georgetown
Jalen Lindsey	SF	Huntington (WV) Prep (Nashville, TN)	4*, 27th	Not Yet Offered	Memphis Tennessee Vanderbilt Providence
Zylan Cheatham	SF	Westwind Prep (Phoenix, AZ)	4*, 79th	Not Yet Offered	Arizona St Arizona New Mexico USC
Ryan Skovranko	SF/SG	Lincoln Park (Midland, PA)	Not Ranked	Not Yet Offered	Temple VA Tech Duquense
D'Angelo Russell	SG	Montverde (FL) Academy (Louisville, KY)	5*, 17th	Not Yet Offered	Louisville Ohio St Indiana Arizona UNC
Isaiah Whitehead	SG	Lincoln (New York, NY)	4*, 34th	Not Yet Offered	Syracuse Louisville Florida St. John's Rutgers
Josh Perkins	PG	Regis Jesuit (Aurora, CO)	4*, 31st	Not Yet Offered	Gonzaga New Mexico Colorado

Scholarship Situation

Kentucky currently has three players on scholarship that could theoretically return for the 2014-15 season: Kyle Wiltjer (senior), Willie Cauley-Stein (junior) and Alex Poythress (junior). The 2013 class currently has 8 signees, including Julius Randle, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, James Young, Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee, Derek Willis, and Dominique Hawkins. The safest bets to return are Lee, Willis and Hawkins. Wiltjer will likely stick around for his senior season as well. As always, Calipari will be reloading, not rebuilding.

Targets - Bigs (Needs: 2-3)

Karl Towns, listed at 6' 10" by 247 Sports, has a collegiate center's body but possesses an outside-in game that would ideally fit at the 4. That versatility should give Kentucky's opponents matchup nightmares while providing Kentucky some versatility in building out the rest of the class.

Kentucky has offered two traditional low-post bigs in Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander. Okafor ranks atop many 2014 prospect lists, while Alexander, a fellow 5*, is no slouch himself. Either player would be an ideal complement to Towns in the paint. Okafor has been closely linked to Duke, while Alexander may be hard to pry from in-state school Michigan St.

The last important name to know right now is Trey Lyles, who comes with some controversy. Lyles had originally committed to Indiana. After he decommitted, Indiana head coach not-so-subtly implied that other coaches had come sniffing around trying to pry Lyles loose. As of now, Lyles isn't really considering the Hoosiers, and in-state rivals Kentucky and Louisville may be the leaders.

Should Calipari look beyond Kentucky's current offer list, two names to keep tabs on are LeRon Black and Craig Victor. Black, a Baylor decommit, has known Calipari since the coach's days at Memphis. Meanwhile, Victor (who resides in SEC country) has had a great start to AAU play and may shoot up recruiting boards soon. Kentucky may also look for multi-year prospects to provide depth. Other players who have heard from the coaching staff include Goodluck Okonoboh, Abdul Malik-Abu, D.J. Foreman, and Bluegrass native Shane Hall.

Off the radar: Dakari Johnson reclassified to the 2013 class and--hey, look at that!--ended up signing with Kentucky. You'll see him in Rupp next year.

Targets - Wings (Needs: 2-3)

Filling the small forward and shooting guard roles in the class feels like a bit of a fuzzy gray area right now. Ideally, uber-prospect Andrew Wiggins would have stayed in the 2014 class and picked Kentucky. Hey, even Coach Cal can't always get what he wants.

At least Calipari isn't afraid to go prospecting on the West Coast. He has already offered Californian Stanley Johnson. Like most of Kentucky's Pac-12 area offers, Johnson likely will stay west, but it doesn't hurt to try. He ranks right outside the top 10, and kudos to Calipari for believing in him last year when he was a borderline 5* prospect.

Kentucky has offers outstanding to two bigger shooting guards as well in Rashad Vaughn and Devin Booker. Booker is the son of former Missouri star Melvin Booker, and also owns the unique distinction of being the only 2014 prospect to receive an offer from Kentucky this spring. He has Michigan ties, but has since moved to Mississippi to play high school ball. Booker is an elite shooter as much as Vaughn is an outstanding slasher. Since receiving his Kentucky offer last year, Vaughn has moved into the Top 10 nationally.

Of unoffered prospects, Jalen Lindsey from nearby Tennessee has gotten a lot of buzz. Lindsey has expressed interest in visiting Kentucky this summer, and could receive an offer if he continues to impress. Kentucky has also contacted Zylan Cheatham, who has built an impressive offer list, and relative unknown Ryan Skovranko.

One guy that won't be picking Kentucky is Theo Pinson. The five-star player has received sporadic Kentucky interest but is set to decide on Wednesday between the five listed schools.

Off the board: Andrew Wiggins rightfully reclassed to 2013. He'll be the top pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, but unfortunately Adam Silver will announce that he played college ball at Kansas. Shaqquan Aaron expressed a lot of interest in Kentucky last fall but committed to arch-rival Louisville this spring. There also hasn't been much news about Paul White, Okafor's high school teammate.

Targets - Guards (Needs: 2-3)

Kentucky will likely have to reload their backcourt after its 2013 studs, the Harrison twins, depart for the NBA. Naturally, Calipari has already locked in on two potential point guards for the future. Emmanuel Mudiay and Tyus Jones rank alongside Okafor to form a Top 3 in the 2014 class, separating themselves from the pack.

Mudiay is the more prototypical Calipari point guard. At 6 '4", the Texan has the size to go along with the dynamic skill set. Kentucky is considered the clubhouse leader, but look out for local school Baylor. Meanwhile, Jones has elite vision and passing ability, and may be the most mature point guard to come out in years. There have been rumors that he and Okafor will play for the same school (again, Duke is the early leader), along with fellow 5* Justise Winslow.

At the 2, the aforementioned Booker and Vaughn could fit there. The most curious name that doesn't have an offer looks like a perfect fit. That would be D'Angelo Russell, a Louisville native who currently plays at Montverde in Florida (Dakari Johnson's alma mater). He has visited Lexington before, and the five-star player curiously holds offers from Florida and Louisville, but not Kentucky. Another shooting guard, Isaiah Whitehead, from New York, has pined for Kentucky interest.

At point guard, Calipari looks to be hedging his offers by recently reaching out to Josh Perkins. Perkins has made some noise in AAU ball and sits just outside 5* status. However, he's strictly a backup plan unless Calipari feels things going sour with both Mudiay and Jones.

Off the radar: Jaquan Lyle exhibited a lot of Kentucky interest, even visiting the campus, but never received a Kentucky offer. He has dropped the Wildcats from his list and is down to six schools.

Outlook

The Towns commitment gave Kentucky a really nice start to the class. If Kentucky can rebound with a good 2013-14 basketball season, another top class remains all but assured. The pivot points look like center and point guard, with each position currently holding top two tier options to choose from.

If I were a betting man, I would place my chips on Mudiay being the most likely prospect to commit, in which case Kentucky might push hard for Alexander as well. Both Mudiay and Alexander compare favorably to incoming Wildcats Andrew Harrison and Dakari Johnson, respectively. It's easy to envision Kentucky transitioning to the 2014-15 season hardly missing a beat.

Of course, Calipari can also swing for the fences and try to land the "package deal" of Jones and Okafor. Though Calipari doesn't get every recruit he wants, his proven track record clearly demonstrates that he's a force to be reckoned with on the recruiting trail.

If anything, the most important thing to remember is that it's early in the recruiting cycle. This time last year, the Wildcats had just one 2013 commit in lightly regarded Derek Willis. With Towns aboard, Kentucky is already ahead of the curve. And just like last year's class, this year's will eventually be filled with a lot of great players.

Older Recruiting Big Boards

2013 5/16/13 | 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