Kerry Blackshear visiting Arkansas

Kentucky fans have been waiting for several weeks to get a shot at signing Virginia Tech transfer Kerry Blackshear.

The wait will be a little longer, if it comes at all, as Blackshear took his second official to an SEC school on Friday, and neither of those teams have been Kentucky or Texas A&M.

Many believed that Texas A&M, coached by former Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams, would be the favorite to land his former player. Florida is also in a good position, being close to the Blackshear's Orlando home and being one big man away from having a competitive roster. But of course, Kentucky is always in the mix and Blackshear’s commitment would put their roster over the top.

Earlier this week, however, another SEC suitor emerged in Arkansas. The Razorbacks are led by newly hired head coach Eric Musselman, who put Nevada basketball back on the map by building that program from the ground up from 2015-2019. He succeeded at Nevada through strong recruiting, especially via transfer, and bringing his basketball knowledge from years of coaching in the NBA.

Although Arkansas’ emergence in the Kerry Blackshear sweepstakes should certainly make Kentucky fans feel uneasy, it is a big victory that John Calipari was able to weather the storm of Blackshear’s Thursday visit to Florida. There was major concern that he would commit while visiting Gainesville.

There is no planned visit to Lexington that we are aware of, but it seems that Blackshear is finally focused on finding his new college destination. I would expect a decision in the next two weeks, so let’s hope he drops by Lexington at some point during that time frame.