UK moving into the lead for Jalen Green

While John Calipari continues to have UK contending for national titles, he has hit a dry spell when it comes to landing the most elite of recruits.

Not since Skal Labissiere has UK landed a top-five recruit, but that drought could end in the Class of 2020 by way of Jalen Green.

A consensus top-five recruit, Green is someone that Calipari has already put a lot of work into recruiting, and it may be paying off, according to Rivals recruiting analyst Corey Evans.

“I think they’re the leader. I definitely do,” Evans told the Herald-Leader. “They’ve really done a great job of prioritizing him. They’ve been adamant about him being that next ‘2’ guard athlete that Kentucky has been known for. And that’s on his mind. That’s definitely a top school of his growing up, and I don’t think anyone has worked harder in his recruitment than Kentucky.”

Green recently said he plans to visit UK. He also talked about what he’s looking for in potential schools.

“I want a coach that is going to keep it real with me,” Green said. “I might want to go back and finish school. I want to be able to handle the ball and take a leader role.”

Ranked second overall by 247 Sports Composite, Green is a 6-5, 170-pound combo guard from San Joaquin Memorial in Fresno (CA). He currently holds offers from the Kansas Jayhawks, Memphis Tigers, UCLA Bruins, Oregon Ducks, Arizona Wildcats, USC Trojans and Villanova Wildcats among others.

Not only has UK struggled to land top-five recruits recently, but they’ve also had little recruiting success on the west coast under Calipari. But it sounds like UK has a very real shot of bucking both of those trends and landing a recruit in contention for the No. 1 overall spot in 2020.

Be sure to read the entire interview at the Herald-Leader.

Here are some recent highlights of Green in action:

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