Kentucky in bad shape with top big man targets

It’s getting to be that time of year for basketball recruiting where recruits decide on where they will be playing college basketball next season.

The Kentucky Wildcats have reeled in three of their targets in the 2019 class already with Tyrese Maxey, Dontaie Allen, and Kahlil Whitney. With those three already committed, that only leaves a handful of spots left in Cal’s recruiting class for 2019.

So, who will be joining the class?

Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader rounded up many of the nation’s top recruiting experts, and let’s just say things aren’t looking good for Kentucky.

Between James Wiseman, Vernon Carey, Matthew Hurt and Isaiah Stewart, the experts don’t expect Kentucky to land any of them.

Wiseman has already finished his visits with Kentucky, Kansas, Vanderbilt, Florida State and Memphis, so one would think a decision is not far off. will be getting one as well, although it’s not made official yet. Wiseman recently visited Memphis along with Jalen Green and RJ Hampton, two other highly coveted recruits. This is basically a two-horse race between Kentucky and Memphis, though it appears the Tigers are the pick ‘if’ Wiseman decides in the early signing period.

However, it’s no longer a done deal that Wiseman signs early, which would be great news for Kentucky. It’s become pretty clear that Kentucky needs this recruitment to drag on a little while longer, as Memphis appears to have all of the momentum if a decision is made within the next week.

Carey, who was once seen as a long-time Duke lean, now appears to be trending toward Michigan State, though the Blue Devils are still strongly in the mix. While Carey has not officially cut his list, the top three schools for the second-ranked player in the country seem to be Kentucky, Duke and Michigan State.

Carey took an official visit to Lexington for Big Blue Madness, which went great by all accounts. Still, it doesn’t look good for Kentucky at this time.

Hurt is one of the highly touted big men in the class and Kentucky seems to be in better shape with him than they were before. While Hurt has yet to release an actual final list, Kentucky, Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, Duke are still in the running. Those also appear to be the schools he’ll take official visits to whenever he starts those.

Kansas has been the assumed leader for a good amount of time, but Kentucky remains in the mix heading into what should be a spring decision. Of this group of talented big man, Kentucky may have the best chance with him moving forward.

Stewart has been harder to get a read on, but for now, Washington and Michigan State appear to be in the best shape for him.

All in all, it’s safe to think Kentucky won’t add another commitment during the early signing period. A three-man class of Whitney, Allen and Maxey is good enough to be a top-five recruiting class, but for it to be in contention for the top spot, they need to land one of the above mentioned targets.

Be sure to read Roberts’ full update for more insight into Kentucky’s recruiting efforts.