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The Kentucky Wildcats have one less big man they’re in contention for in the Class of 2019.
Five-star center Isaiah Stewart has announced his top six: The Washington Huskies, Syracuse Orange, Indiana Hoosiers, Villanova Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils and Michigan State Spartans.
Kentucky had not yet offered Stewart, and had actually shown little interest. The 6-9 big man is rated the No. 5 player and No. 3 center in the class of 2019. There were mixed signals throughout the summer as to how interested Kentucky was.
Stewart has 41 scholarship offers, and while none of his final six schools are in-conference, and Kentucky didn’t offer him, he still has SEC offers from Tennessee and Duke. The Rochester, New York, native is playing his senior season of high school ball at La Lumiere School.
He currently has 11 crystal ball predictions, the majority of which favor Duke. There’s also one for Villanova.
Kentucky’s only center offer for 2019 remains James Wiseman, the No. 1 recruit in the country, although interest between Kentucky and five-star center Oscar Tshiebwe continues to increase. Perhaps Kentucky has focused in on Tshiebwe as the next big man that could get an offer in 2019, and thus has moved on from Stewart.
Either way, Calipari likely won’t go all-or-nothing at the five spot with Wiseman.
Also, if Stewart ends up at Duke like the crystal ball seems to think, that could make it easier for Kentucky to beat them for Vernon Carey. Carey may not want to share the frontcourt with another elite big man like Stewart, so this could ultimately be a good thing for the Wildcats.
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