UK coaches visit Sharife Cooper & Dawson Garcia; Cooper plans to visit soon

Sharife Cooper, a five-star guard from Marietta (GA), is the No. 21 overall player in the 2020 class and No. 2 point guard, according to 247 Sports.

We all know the success that coach John Calipari has had with point guards throughout his career, and he was in for a visit with the 2020 guard Wednesday, according to CatsPause.com.

Omar Cooper, Sharife’s dad, had some high praises when he was talking about Kentucky.

“To me, the thing that stands out about Kentucky is the focus on basketball, a lot of schools are known or something: academics, football, Kentucky seems like a basketball school. Everywhere we went we were reminded about basketball. That’s one of the things that stood out. But everything stood out. The facilities, the coaching staff, players, fan base, just everything. It’s at a high-level”

Cooper’s dad also mentioned that they plan on taking a visit to Kentucky on February 23^rd when the Auburn Tigers come to Rupp Arena for the second matchup of the season.

Coach Cal has been pushing for an early commitment from Cooper, but it doesn’t look like they are going to get their wish, as Cooper and his family are taking their time and visiting schools before making a decision.

As of right now, it looks like it is a two-way race for Cooper between the Kentucky Wildcats and Auburn with Auburn currently holding about 80% of the crystal ball predictions.

It looks like Cal really wants to land Cooper and he is the perfect fit for Cal, and he is a very good ball handler and always has the defenders guessing with the way he changes speeds.

It sounds like a perfect match and hopefully coach Cal is able to get an early commitment from Cooper.

Cooper wasn’t the only recruit that Kentucky coaches saw Wednesday. According to Corey Evans of Rivals.com, Kentucky was in to see 2020 forward Dawson Garcia.

The 6’10” forward from Prior Lake in Minnesota is rising up the recruiting rankings after his play on the AAU spring and summer circuits, as well as a solid junior season thus far. ESPN, Rivals and 247 Sports all have him ranked in the top 35, and 247 Sports has him ranked No. 27 overall and the No. 5 power forward.

Garcia is a lefty and was described by Eric Bossi at Rivals as “a modern big man who can shoot with range, put the ball on the floor and run for days in transition.”

As he has been trending upward in the class, more schools have become interested. Garcia currently holds offers from the Texas Longhorns, Baylor Bears, Kansas Jayhawks, Butler Bulldogs, Iowa Hawkeyes, Wisconsin Badgers and Indiana Hoosiers. The Wildcats appear to be joining that mix as well, though no offer has been made.

It is obviously early in Garcia’s recruitment, but the junior forward has a lot of potential that’s caught Coach Cal’s ete. He will be one to watch as his recruitment begins to pick up.

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