As far as the 2017 class goes, Nick Richards continues to look like one of the likeliest future Kentucky Wildcats.
The five-star center out of Manhattan recently broke down his list of five schools with ESPN's Jeff Borzello, and of course, UK made the cut. They are joined by Indiana, Connecticut, Syracuse and Arizona, but John Calipari has put UK in great position to make Richards a key member of their 2016 class.
Richards made sure to note that "Syracuse, UConn and Kentucky have been coming for me the most," while adding he plans on taking all five official visits in the fall before making a decision.
The 6-11, 235-pound big man out of St. Patrick averaged 12.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in six games at the recent Nike Peach Jam event. He's not as offensively polished as guys like Wendell Carter, DeAndre Ayton and Mohamed Bamba, but Richards is efficient when he does look to score, shooting 61.1% from the field at the Peach Jam.
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As far as rankings go, ESPN has Richards as the eighth-ranked prospect in the 2017 class, but still behind other bigs like Bamba, Carter, Ayton and Brandon McCoy. Bamba and Ayton are two guys UK has recruited heavily this summer, but if Richards wanted to commit right now, UK would probably take him.
Then again, it's hard to predict what John Calipari will do as he keeps his cards pretty close to the vest, though I feel very confident in Richards being a Cat, whether he decides in the fall or spring.
That's also evident in his 247 Sports Crystal Ball: