Kentucky Basketball Recruiting: UK continues to show interest in KyKy Tandy

Many Kentucky fans have been disgruntled this season over the fact that there is not a scholarship player from the state on this year’s basketball roster.

However, for those who have been yearning for John Calipari to recruit an in-state player, you may have your wish in the form of a guard from University Heights Academy.

Dekeyvan “KyKy” Tandy has been a sensation in his junior year at UHA, sitting at fourth in the state in scoring at just over 30 points per game leading his UHA squad to a district championship and a shot at a 2nd Region title.

Tandy was recently profiled by Joe Mussatto of SEC Country, in which he speaks about his recruitment and Kentucky’s involvement.

“When I went up there I knew they had interest in me,” Tandy told SEC Country on Thursday. “But they weren’t recruiting me that hard at first. So, I feel like they got more interest in me then. We’ll just go from there.”

The 247 Sports composite has the 6’1 guard as the 150th ranked player in the 2019 class, and Tandy is the second-ranked player in the state, only behind Trinity’s David Johnson.

This is similar to scenarios that Kentucky has encountered over the past few years. Tandy is talented enough to have already received offers from the likes of Tennessee, Cincinnati, Florida, Western Kentucky, and Oklahoma, among others.

So if Kentucky wants Tandy, they would need to move quick on him, as we’ve seen with former players in the state that many of them don’t want to wait around until late in their senior season to see if they get an offer from the state’s flagship school.

“I don’t think that necessarily triggers [Kentucky] to do anything, but I think his recent success and the buzz around the state of just how good of a player he could potentially be — and offensively already is — probably got them a little more interested,” University Heights coach Grant Shouse told SEC Country’s Mussatto.

Tandy would likely be popular among Kentucky fans due to the fact that he is from the state and that’s something fans have longed for for quite some time, but Tandy is also a solid shooter, knocking down 45 percent of his threes this season and shooting 61 percent from the field.

And barring an outstanding freshman season, Tandy would almost certainly be a multi-year player, another quality that a lot of fans have longed for.

Tandy seems like a kid that really wants a Kentucky offer and would heavily consider joining if the Wildcats were to offer.

But the Wildcats will have to make some tough decisions. Do they try to tell Tandy to wait until late in his senior season for an offer, ala Taveion Hollingsworth last year, or do they go ahead and extend the offer?

The decisions will probably need to be made soon, as Tandy will probably climb further up the ranks and draw more attention nationally.