Lance Ware sets decision date

Lance Ware, a four-star recruit and one of the top 50 players for the 2020 class, has set his decision date.

The 6-9 power forward out of New Jersey is set to announce his decision on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Adam Finkelstein.

Going into the decision, Kentucky is viewed as the heavy favorite. Other schools that the Wildcats will look to fend off include the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines, Miami Hurricanes and Providence Friars, all of whom were included in his final five that he announced back in August.

The Wolverines were viewed as the main challenger, especially after they just hosted him for an official visit last week. But again, Kentucky is the significant favorite, especially after Evan Daniels made his prediction for the Wildcats today, which came after John Calipari and Kenny Payne both visited Ware on Monday. To have Kentucky’s head coach and top assistant visit Ware on the first day of the fall recruiting period showed how committed they are to locking this one up ASAP, and it appears they’ll do so Thursday.

While Ware, who’s ranked 32nd overall by 247 Sports composite, will make the call without officially visiting Kentucky, he did take an unofficial visit to Lexington for Big Blue Madness in 2018.

Ware emerged as a top 50 prospect this year after having a strong spring and summer on the AAU circuit, especially at the Pangos All-American Camp. He received most of his big offers this summer, including Kentucky, Michigan, Louisville, Ohio State, Oregon and many others. His highest ranking is 31st overall by Rivals.

If he continues to improve and has a big senior season, Ware should get bumped up to five-star status and be in contention for the McDonald’s All-American game.

Kentucky did not offer a scholarship to Ware until July 26th, but it quickly became clear that the Wildcats were No. 1 on his list with everyone else fighting for second place. Soon after the offer was announced, a flood of predictions for Kentucky came in on Ware’s 247 Sports crystal ball, where they now hold 88% of the predictions. Kentucky holds 100% of the predictions at Rivals.

With Ware set to decide Thursday and Terrence Clarke committing Saturday, Kentucky’s 2020 class should be four strong by the end of the weekend (so long as Clarke can reclassify into 2020). They would join five-star wing Brandon Boston and four-star forward Cam’Ron Fletcher.

If Clarke is able to move into 2020, those four alone would have Kentucky in strong position for the No. 1 overall recruiting class. And it would all be done before the early signing period even begins.

Check out some highlights of Ware in action:

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