UK Basketball Recruiting: Positive update on Scottie Lewis

The buzz for Kentucky is growing in the recruitment of Scottie Lewis.

By Jason Marcum@marcum89 Aug 20, 2018, 1:16pm EDT

Early in the 2019 recruiting cycle, Scottie Lewis was someone Kentucky appeared to be in good shape for.

However, there hasn’t been much Kentucky buzz in this recruitment for much of the summer and entering the fall. While the five-star guard does plan to visit Lexington sometime in September, this has been a rather quiet recruitment, especially in regards to John Calipari and co.

But just because we don’t hear good news about a recruit and a certain school, that doesn’t mean said school isn’t quietly in good shape for said recruit.

That may be the case with Kentucky, at least based on why KSR’s TJ Walker is reporting. Walker posted an interesting update on Lewis and Kentucky’s chances with him:

In the UK recruiting stock market it’s time to buy Scottie Lewis stock. I (surprisingly) heard great things about UK’s chances with Lewis over the last week. I’ve never thought too highly of UK’s chances with the duo of Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis, but I’m starting to come around to the idea of Lewis and UK.

Over the summer, Lewis cut his list down to six schools: The Kentucky Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, St. John’s Red Storm, Stanford Cardinal, Villanova Wildcats and Florida Gators.

There’s actually be a lot of buzz for St. John’s recently, likely due to them being rather close to home for Lewis, but it’s hard to see a school like Kentucky or Duke not winning out if they really make him a priority.

Lewis was first offered a scholarship by John Calipari in September of 2017, and he’s done nothing but maintain his standing as a top-15 recruit ever since. He averaged 16.4 points, five rebounds and 4.1 assists per game as a junior at Ranney high School in New Jersey.

The 6-5, 185-pound Lewis is ranked No. 13 overall by Rivals and the third-best shooting guard. He’s No. 10 overall at ESPN in addition to being the No. 1 small forward. 247 has him at No. 9 overall and the second-best small forward.

Kentucky already has commitments from small forwards Dontaie Allen and Kahlil Whitney, but Lewis could be an ideal shooting guard, so those three could work out well.

Whitney and Lewis is especially a scary tandem to think of, as they’re easily two of the best defenders in the Class of 2019. Lewis is easily one of, if not the best perimeter defender, and current Kentucky commit Tyrese Maxey was named the EYBL Defensive Player of the Year.

The thought of Maxey, Lewis and Whitney on the floor together is probably something that has Calipari salivating at the thought of from a defensive standpoint. It sounds like there’s a real chance this could become a reality.

Be sure to read Walker’s full update for more insight into why Kentucky may be in good shape with Lewis.

Then, check out some highlights of Lewis at the NBA Top 100 Camp: