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Unless something unexpected happens, N’Faly Dante looks like Kentucky’s last shot to add to its 2019-20 roster.
The five-star center and top-15 recruit (ranked as high as No. 9 by Rivals) is still a Class of 2020 recruit, but he continues to work towards a reclassification into 2019. If that happens, Kentucky is one of several schools in the mix.
For now, Dante is playing at the Peach Jam and having a strong showing, while Kentucky coaches have already watched him several times in North Augusta. This comes after Dante took an official visit to Lexington at the end of June.
On Friday, Dante gave a brief update on his recruitment to KSR’s Jack Pilgrim:
2020 five-star center N’Faly Dante tells KSR that a reclassification to 2019 is still possible, focusing on Kentucky, Oregon, LSU, and Tennessee. Said he enjoyed visit to UK, they’re okay with him coming either year.
— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) July 12, 2019
Dante was one of the first 2020 recruits John Calipari offered, so he likely knew the move to 2019 was possible, if not likely for a while now. But with Kentucky offering few 2020 bigs thus far, you have to think Calipari would be just as happy to get Dante then if he’s unable to reclassify.
The Oregon Ducks are viewed as Kentucky’s primary competition, but the LSU Tigers and Tennessee Volunteers are also hoping to land the 6-11 big man out of Wichita (KS). The Kansas Jayhawks were thought to be in the running, but with Udoka Azubuike, Silvio De Sousa and David McCormick in their frontcourt, perhaps that’s taken them out of the running.
I still think this comes down to Oregon vs. Kentucky, and we could get a better idea of who’s in front after the Peach Jam ends.
In the meantime, here are some recent highlights of Dante in action:
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