Isaiah Stewart still in contact with Kentucky

The Kentucky Wildcats are making their presence known in the search for big men in the 2019 recruiting class. With Aidan Igiehon, Matthew Hurt, Oscar Tshiebwe, James Wiseman, Vernon Carey and Zeke Nnaji all receiving interest, Isaiah Stewart is the latest name to hit the news.

While Kentucky’s interest has consistently been there, Stewart’s hasn’t.

Last month, the five star recruit cut the Wildcats from his top-six, which included the Duke Blue Devils, the Indiana Hoosiers, the Michigan State Spartans, the Syracuse Orange, the Villanova Wildcats and the Washington Huskies.

However, Keion Brooks and Stewart reportedly co-hosted head coach John Calipari himself on Friday.

Stewart’s coach, Kevan Sheppard, told CatsPause.com that he thinks Stewart is listening, in reference to Calipari.

“He’s been in communication with them and I think he’s listening,” Sheppard said. “Kentucky is one of those schools that he always wanted to get an offer from, so having a teammate like teammate like Keion who is further down the road with them to give him information is big. Once they reached out, he listened.”

Stewart is ranked fourth overall in ESPN’s Top-100 and the third-ranked center. In 247Sports’ rankings, he's ranked fifth overall and also the third-ranked center.

With Nick Richards, PJ Washington and Reid Travis all most-likely to be gone next fall, Stewart and any other front court additions are essential for Kentucky. By already receiving commitments from both Khalil Whitney and Tyrese Maxey, along with EJ Montgomery possibly being a multi-year player in the program, Kentucky has a foundation of talent to present to these top recruits.

Then again, it won’t be a surprise if Washington, Montgomery and Richards are all in the NBA next year, which is why Calipari is smart to cast a wide net in regards to big men.

Be sure to read the full interview here.