Positive buzz on Jaden McDaniels; update on Vernon Carey decision timeline

The Vernon Carey recruitment seems to be winding down, with the five-star big man’s father telling Adam Zagoria that he will likely announce his commitment “in the next few weeks.”

However, that announcement seems likely to come after the fall signing period, which begins on Wednesday.

“I want to decide after my last visit, likely a week or two after,” he told Rivals recently. “I probably won’t sign early though. I will likely commit a little after that but before the New Year.”

Carey is deciding between the Kentucky Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, Miami Hurricanes, North Carolina Tar Heels and Michigan State Spartans. He has visited all five schools, taking a return visit to Michigan State over the weekend.

If you follow the 247 Sports Crystal Ball, Duke has a majority of the picks with 53 percent, followed by Miami with 20 percent, Michigan State with 13 percent and Kentucky with 7 percent.

Recently, Carey said he planned to cut his list down to three. The belief is he will ultimately choose Duke, Michigan State, Miami or Kentucky, so it will be interesting to see which of those three gets cut.

However, we may already have the answer from Carey himself, who previously said he wants to play with another star big man. Duke and Michigan State are also recruiting Isaiah Stewart (Kentucky has also, but it doesn’t appear likely Stewart winds up in Lexington), while Kentucky is actively recruiting James Wiseman and Matthew Hurt. Miami isn’t in the running for any other elite big men.

So as for now, it looks like signing week will pass without any announcement from Carey, but it may not be long after until we hear of an announcement.

Another big man who could decide soon is Jaden McDaniels, who actually just wrapped up his official visit to Kentucky. While it appears unlikely the five-star forward will sign in the early period, it does appear a decision is not far off, and that could be good news for the Wildcats.

Over at KSR, TJ Walker gave a very encouraging update on where Kentucky stands with the top-five recruit, who is ranked as high as No. 4 overall by 247 Sports and Rivals.

The most positive thing to come out of the report is that McDaniels’ father may actually prefer John Calipari and his program. That would be great news, especially with the recent bad luck of elite recruits’ parents not preferring Kentucky.

All told, Kentucky almost certainly isn’t going to come out of the early signing period with a big man in the fold, but it sounds like we may not have to wait long for it to happen.

Be sure to read Walker’s full update for more positive news on McDaniels and even Matthew Hurt.

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