Wildcats getting predictions for Frank Anselem; ‘They want him badly’

The roster for the 2020-21 season is still not completed, as John Calipari and his staff are still in search for a big man.

It looked like Kentucky was going to make quick work of this when all the momentum for Matt Haarms was swinging the Cats’ way. However, we all saw how quickly things changed in that recruitment.

Kentucky immediately turned their attention elsewhere as it was reported that they had reached out to 6-10 center Frank Anselem. The four-star center is ranked as the No. 85 overall player in the 2020 class and is the No. 15 center via 247 Sports composite.

It appears that Kentucky is zeroing in on the Prolific Prep big man, as Chris Fisher of Cats Pause reported that the coaching staff really wants to get him to Lexington saying, “They want him badly.”

Well, Kentucky now seems to be gaining major traction in this recruitment, as they just picked up two Rivals FutureCast predictions for Anselem. They’re from national recruiting reporter Dan McDonald and Cats Illustrated writer David Sisk.

Last week, Anselm’s Georgia Stars Nike league program coach, Julius Smith, told Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader that interest has picked up significantly between the two sides.

“They watched film of him all weekend as a staff, and they liked him a lot,” Smith said. “They like the things that he can do, in terms of next year’s roster and how he can help. They think he’s a pro, like the other schools recruiting him.”

Even Ashton Hagans got involved in this recruitment as he contacted Anselem to put in a good word for Kentucky and told him how much he loved Kentucky.

The one-time transfer vote is still up in the air, but there is no guarantee that Kentucky would be able to land a transfer if it passes, so that would explain why Anselem has quickly become a priority.

If Kentucky lands Anselem, he would likely be a developmental project who can come in and play 10-15 minutes as a freshman, develop, stick around for 2-4 years, and eventually become an impact starter, or at worst a serviceable backup for more depth.

Kentucky will probably still try to land a grad transfer big or even a traditional transfer if the one-time transfer waiver passes, but Anselem would still be a nice addition to the No. 1 overall recruiting class for 2020.

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