Going into the summer recruiting period, Jarred Vanderbilt was viewed as one of the likeliest commitments for the Kentucky Wildcats in 2017.
However, a broken foot sidelined Vanderbilt for much of the past five months, leading to UK showing more interest in other wings. Among them have been Kevin Knox, Lonnie Walker, and Andre Rafus in addition to John Petty and P.J. Washington, both of whom are hybrids who can play the 3.
However, UK has never lost interest in Vanderbilt. That is evident by the five-star Texas native getting set to host UK for an in-home visit, according to Scout.com recruiting director Evan Daniels.
Jarred Vanderbilt (@JVando_) in-home visit schedule: TCU (9-9), UNC (9-10), Texas (9-11), UK (9-13), AZ (9-14), Oregon (9-15), KU (9-21).
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) September 9, 2016
Because of his injury and missing all of the summer events, Vanderbilt has taken a big hit in the recruiting rankings. He was a top-10 prospect in the Class of 2017 by 247 Sports back in the spring, but has since dropped to No. 20 in their rankings.
In the process, TCU has surged into strong contention for Vanderbilt. This summer, new Horned Frogs head coach Jamie Dixon hired Corey Barker as an assistant. Barker is the first cousin of Vanderbilt, and this family tie has the 247 Crystal Ball now favoring TCU in this recruitment.
“We are family, so it plays a big part,” Vanderbilt told the Herald-Leader in June. “I’ve been down to TCU, so I’ve actually seen the campus and met the other coaching staff. It seems like they’re putting together a good program. They’re rebuilding, and it looks like a good start to something new.”
Even with the family presence and the allure of staying in state for college, Kentucky will be very much in the running if John Calipari wants. The question is, have guys like Petty, Walker, Washington and/or Knox become a bigger priority to Calipari?
We should soon find out following that in-home visit between Vanderbilt and UK.