Kentucky Basketball recruiting in the 2021 class

Kentucky has been among best when it comes to recruiting under head coach John Calipari. However, the 2021 recruiting class will prove to be the most challenging for Calipari to navigate since he arrived in Lexington.

The coronavirus pandemic has effectively killed recruiting events and visits to campuses for the time being, and it may stay that way for the rest of 2021. That makes things a lot harder for even the best college programs to figure out who they’ll build future rosters with, but the Wildcats are already off to a solid start in this class.

Four-star guard Nolan Hickman (pictured above with his family) became the first 2021 recruit to pick Kentucky. But the class may soon grow with guys like five-star guard Hunter Sallis and four-star forward Bryce Hopkins strongly considering the Wildcats.

Other 2021 recruits with offers from Kentucky include five-star forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. and five-star combo guard Jaden Hardy. The Wildcats have also contacted five-star center Daimion Collins, five-star forward Harrison Ingram, four-star center Efton Reid, and four-star center Frank Kepnang.

There’s also several 2022 recruits Kentucky is strongly in the mix for who could ultimately reclassify, including five-star guard Jaden Bradley, five-star forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, and five-star guard Skyy Clark.

With only two projected NBA Draft picks for 2021 (Terrence Clarke and Brandon Boston), this could end up being one of the smaller classes Calipari signs. That, and the likelihood the NCAA adopts a one-time transfer rule in college basketball will lead to the transfer market becoming nearly as important to fill out rosters as high school recruits. Don’t be surprised if Calipari targets several transfers next year and has a high school recruiting class of just 4-5 players.

Who else will join Hickman to be part of Kentucky’s 2021 class? Use this stream to keep track of the latest recruiting news for 2021.