UK Basketball Recruiting: James Wiseman sets visit with Kentucky

James Wiseman has set his first official visit, and it will be with the Kentucky Wildcats.

According to Evan Daniels, Wiseman will visit Kentucky on the weekend of Sept. 7. He has also set up visits with the Kansas Jayhawks and Vanderbilt Commodores.

Wiseman has been thought to be down to just Kentucky and Memphis for quite some time, and even though John Calipari worked hard on this recruitment, Penny Hardaway and Memphis seem to have gotten a leg up on the Wildcats.

First, Wiseman is a Tennessee native and has grown up close to Memphis. Second, Wiseman is a former player of Hardaway’s, who coached him at East High School and in AAU ball.

That has led to 13 straight crystal ball predictions for Memphis in this recruitment.

The good news is Calipari is already in great shape in terms of his 2019 class, as Kahlil Whitney, Tyrese Maxey and Dontaie Allen are already on board, and there is still plenty of time to build on it.

Wiseman would likely put this class over the top and all but guarantee it to be the No. 1 class in the nation, but even if he goes elsewhere, Kentucky is still in the running for guys like Vernon Carey, Matthew Hurt and Oscar Tshiebwe. All three bigs are planning to visit Kentucky this fall as well.

Also, this visit schedule effectively ends any thought that Wiseman could move into the 2018 class, unless he chooses to do so as a mid-year enrollee. Had he reclassified, Memphis was going to be the pick. I also think the Tigers would be the pick if he decided this fall, so it’s good news for Kentucky that this will go into the spring.

Wiseman hasn’t planned any other official visits as of now, but expect that to change as the fall rolls on.