Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Recruiting Update by Evan Daniels

The 2017 recruiting class is history, which means all of the focus now is on 2018.

You already know some of the names Kentucky is after, including Marvin Bagley, Bol Bol, Romeo Langford, Zion Williamson, Naz Reid, Immanuel Quickley, Louis King, Moses Brown and Cameron Reddish among others.

Several of those guys will be competing for a spot on John Calipari’s USA Basketball U-19 squad this summer, and you can bet at least a few of them will travel with Cal to Egypt.

That’s why Cal getting to be part of this is such a big deal when it comes to recruiting in next year’s class. That’s what Scout.com’s Evan Daniels told SEC Country’s Kyle Tucker, adding that Kentucky is in great shape for some of the recruits attending tryouts.

“Those first four are guys Kentucky has prioritized and is recruiting really hard,” said Daniels. “I would classify them as the leader for Quickley. With Bol Bol, Kentucky and Arizona seem to be at the top of his list. Cam Reddish has played his cards close to the vest, so I’m not as sure what he’s going to do, and with Romeo Langford, it’s Kentucky, Louisville, Duke, Kansas and a couple other schools. So this is an opportunity for Calipari to show those guys who he is, what he’s about and how he coaches.”

Getting a month of coaching and bonding with these recruits will only increase the likelihood they eventually become Wildcats. However, Cal can only take 12 players to Egypt, and with a host of college players and 2017 recruits also trying out, there’s probably going to be at least one Kentucky recruit that doesn’t make the cut.

“Any time you can be around a guy and build a relationship in a setting like that, it’s a positive,” Daniels said. “But the reverse can be true, too, where it impacted them with certain guys they were recruiting because they cut them. So it can go either way, but it obviously has a chance to be a real advantage.”

Among the 2018 recruits trying out are Bol, Quickley, Reddish, King and Langford. Bol, Reddish and Langford should have little trouble making the cut, but the same cannot be said for Quickley, who has become Kentucky’s top point guard target in 2018.

If Quickley doesn’t make the cut, he hopefully won’t hold it against Cal and let it affect his recruitment.

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