Kentucky Basketball Recruiting 2018 Update by ESPN

With the summer here, the recruiting for 2018 has really heated up.

For the Kentucky Wildcats, it’s going to be a very interesting class to watch, perhaps the most intriguing of the John Calipari era. That’s because Kentucky currently has a roster full of non-seniors and players who probably won’t be one-and-dones.

That means much of the roster we see to see in the 2017-18 season could be very similar to what we see in 2018-19. Even so, expect Kentucky to add some high-level talent in 2018, even if it just 4-5 players.

Kentucky is expected to be busy building its 2018 recruiting class in the coming months, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, who offered an update on who Calipari is looking at for next year:

After seeing five players leave for the NBA draft this past season, John Calipari might be able to take a breath next spring. As usual, it’ll be a young team next season in Lexington, but there aren’t too many one-and-done locks. Hamidou Diallo is likely gone, and incoming five-stars Kevin Knox, Jarred Vanderbilt and Nick Richards could all leave school after a year. Either way, Calipari will pursue the best of the best. Bagley, Williamson, Langford, Reddish, Jordan Brown, Moses Brown and Bol Bol are all targets -- along with five-star point guards Immanuel Quickley and Javonte Smart.

Borzello listed Kentucky in the ‘expected to be busy’ tier of schools, which was below the ‘in good shape’ tier. That’s mainly because Calipari doesn’t have any commitments for the class of 2018 yet, but it’s Kentucky, and Cal always gets his guys.

The list of targets he has is certainly a star-studded one, and he’ll have another great class when it’s all said and done. But he’s certainly going to have to work to get there (although that’s nothing new; recruiting season never stops for him).

It’s worth noting that Borzello also said that rival Louisville and SEC foe Arkansas are in good shape, as Rick Pitino has landed a couple high-caliber guards for 2018, and Arkansas already has four commitments.

Kentucky is battling Louisville for top-five talent Romeo Langford, who isn’t planning to make a decision until the spring.

One interesting player Borzello mentioned that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention is Jordan Brown. The five-star big man from California hasn’t been mentioned as UK target much, but he was just added to Cal’s Team USA U19 tryout list.

Perhaps he’s someone to keep an eye on.