The Kentucky Wildcats are on the verge of another top-ranked recruiting class thanks in large part to their two big men commitments.
Five-star forwards Sacha Killeya-Jones and Wenyen Gabriel are currently the lone UK commits heading into the early national signing period next week. Beginning on November 11th, 2016 prospects can begin signing national letters of intent up until November 18th.
By that deadline, John Calipari will have secured the signatures of at least those two players. Killeya-Jones is reportedly set to sign his LOI at the Phenom National High School Showcase in Lewisville, North Carolina on November 14th.
Excited to announce that 6'11 Sacha Killeya-Jones will officially sign his LOI at the Phenom National HS Showcase pic.twitter.com/rFF2mYqlWQ
— Rick Lewis (@Coach_Rick57) November 3, 2015
Also, Chris Fisher of the Cats Pause reports Gabriel will also sign his LOI in the coming weeks.
Five-star Wenyen Gabriel tells CatsPause he will sign with Kentucky during the early period. Has yet to nail down a date and time.
— Chris Fisher (@ChrisFisher247) November 3, 2015
Killeya-Jones, a 6'10" prospect from Chapel Hill (N.C.), is ranked 31st by ESPN, 26th by Rivals and 16th by 247Sports in the 2016 class. He visited Kentucky back in early June before Calipari offered the big man a scholarship. No recruit in the 2016 class has made a bigger jump in the rankings this year than Killeya-Jones.
Back in early June when SKJ visited Kentucky, he was ranked 57th by ESPN, 114th by Rivals, and 30th by 247Sports in the 2016 class. When he originally committed to Virginia in January, he was just a three-star recruit in Rivals' rankings. Now, SKJ is a member of Kentucky's recruiting class with a five-star rating from most major services.
Gabriel has also been one of the fastest-rising prospects this year after surging up the rankings with great showings in AAU events this summer. That led to him scoring scholarship offers from Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and other big-time programs.
A 6-9, 195-pound forward out of Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA), Gabriel is ranked by 24/7 Sports as the No. 17 prospect in the Class of 2016 and the No. 5 power forward. He's also the No. 17 prospect on Rivals, and ESPN has him at No. 23.