Dennis Smith cuts list: Kentucky, Duke, NC State, Louisville included

The Kentucky Wildcats have made the cut for arguably the top point guard in the Class of 2016.

According to ESPN's Paul Biancardi, Dennis Smith has cut his college list to six, and UK is included:

Dennis Smith Jr., the No. 4 player in the ESPN 100 Class of 2016 and No. 1 point guard, told ESPN he has officially cut his school list to Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville, Duke, Wake Forest and NC State.

"I felt it was the right time to cut my list," Smith said. "It was getting too much with all the messages, and I try to return all the messages, but it got to be too much. By cutting it down to these six now I can focus on them and they can focus on me. The time was right. I picked these schools because they all can offer me a great situation.

"My final list of schools all did a great job of building a relationship with me instead of just trying to recruit me."

The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Smith is a rising senior at Fayetteville's Trinity Christian School. He's also.the No. 1 point guard and No. 4 prospect overall in 2016, according to the 247Sports Composite.

NC State is the current favorite in his crystal ball, but John Cali[pari just recently offered Smith, so it will be interesting to see how his recruitment proceeds with UK now firmly in the picture.

However, UK is also in heavy pursuit of five-star combo guard Kobi Simmons, of whom Cal has said can be his point guard at Kentucky. Would Simmons and Smith Jr. be willing to share the ball as much as they'd have to at one school?

Here is a video of Smith Jr at the Adidas Gauntlet Finale in Atlanta Georgia. Dennis was the assist leader for the whole Gauntlet, averaging 6.9 a game, and he did so in front of Calipari and former Wildcat John Wall: