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It's been quite a week for the Kentucky Wildcats.
On Tuesday, the Cats picked up a huge commitment from five-star forward Bam Adebayo to add to an already monster 2016 class. Then came news that Kentucky will hold on to assistant AD and John Calipari confidant Dewayne Peevy after UCF passed on him to hire Buffalo's Danny White. The Cats followed that up with a beatdown of Duke in the Champions Classic at night to get their first win over the Blue Devils since the 1998 Regional Finals.
Surely that was enough good news for one week, right?
— Solo (@AhmadMonk) November 18, 2015
BREAKING: Malik Monk wanted to commit to Arkansas. His brother Marcus wouldn't let him because of "distractions." He will sign with Kentucky
— Trey Schaap (@trey1037TheBuzz) November 18, 2015
A 6-3 shooting guard out of Arkansas, Malik Monk is rated by most recruiting services as a top-10 prospect, some having him in the top five. Calipari and Kentucky have been hot on Monk's trail for much of the past year, but so too have the home-state Razorbacks.
Monk's brother, Marcus Monk, was an All-SEC football performer at Arkansas in the 2000s. He now helps run the Arkansas Wings summer program for which Malik plays. Malik is also the cousin of Ky Madden, who averaged 9.7 points last season for a Hogs team that made the NCAA Tournament.
That was viewed as a big strength for Arkansas' chances with Monk, but it seems as though that may have actually hurt them in the long run.
Must Reads
The 2015 early signing period began last week as high school senior prospects around the nation sign their national letters of intent with the schools they are committed to. November 11th was the first day prospects could sign a LOI, and November 18th, today, is the final day to do so in the early period.
If/when Monk does end up signing on the dotted line, he'll join a loaded 2016 Kentucky class that includes five-star guard De'Aaron Fox to go with five-star forwards Wenyen Gabriel, Sacha Killeya-Jones and Bam Adebayo. It also is good enough to pass Duke for the No. 1 recruiting class for 2016.
And assuming UK returns at least a few of their key players from this year's team, should be the preseason No. 1 or 2 team in the 2016-17 college basketball season.