Isaiah Jackson draws high praise from recruiting analyst

Even though Kentucky is likely to finish with the top rated recruiting class in America for 2020, there are still legitimate question marks surrounding their frontcourt depth for the upcoming season.

John Calipari has built his hall of fame reputation on getting top talent to his program and developing them once they arrive. His recruiting history at UK has been nothing short of amazing when you look at the amount of five-star recruits that have ended up in Lexington.

There has been times during the Cal era where an argument could be made that he totally transformed Kentucky into “Point Guard U” and other stretches when “Big-Man U” seemed just as appropriate.

But the bottom line is this — recruiting has slowed down a bit in terms of 2020 frontcourt talent.

Just a week ago, the Big Blue Nation had Matt Haarms penciled in as their savior center to balance out next year’s guard-loaded roster. Obviously, things didn’t quite work out that way with Haarms, and things are now looking bleak for the introduction of the one-time transfer rule to be in effect for the 2020-2021 season.

So should the BBN be worried?

There is no doubt that adding another big-man to the roster would be ideal, especially if that big-man had Division-I experience. However, an insider for Rivals thinks that the answer to UK’s problem in the paint might already be on his way to Lexington.

Dan McDonald, program director for LakePoint Hoops and writer for Rivals, had some extremely high praise for Kentucky commit Isaiah Jackson while doing a roundtable discussion.

Currently, the four-star power-forward from Pontiac (MI) is ranked as the 31st best player in the country but McDonald thinks he is going to be special. In fact, McDonald said that he believes Jackson is the most underrated post-player in the class of 2020 and even went on to say that he will end up as the best big in the entire class. Jackson’s motor, skillset and athleticism were the reasons given for why his ceiling is so high.

“Isaiah Jackson is the most underrated post player in the class. I honestly wouldn’t be too surprised if he ends up being the best post player in the class when all is said and done. I love how active he is to go along with his athleticism and skill level.”

You can read the entire article here.

There is no debate about the athleticism that Jackson will bring with him to Lexington. If you’ve seen any of his highlight videos then you know first-hand just what kind finisher and rim protector that he is.

It has been odd to see Calipari miss on so many bigs as of late but forgetting about a potentially game-changing player like Isaiah Jackson wouldn’t be wise. After some time working with Kenny Payne and becoming acclimated to college basketball, both Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware could be excellent options to pair with Keion Brooks.

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