Reid Travis update: Recruiting expert gives UK a slight edge over Villanova Wildcats

Next Sunday, Reid Travis will officially graduate from Stanford, beginning his process of finding a new school as a grad transfer.

The contenders for the star big man are the Wildcat blue-bloods of college basketball. The Kentucky Wildcats were initially viewed as the heavy favorite for Travis, but the Villanova Wildcats have been picking up steam recently, as they have a much bigger need for a guy like Travis in their frontcourt.

The good news is Rivals recruiting expert Corey Evans still thinks UK has the “slight edge.”

UK has been heavily discussed this spring as a contender for a grad-transfer. Things didn’t pan out for the longest time until Travis’ transfer became public a few weeks back. Kentucky immediately became the favorite and nothing has indicated otherwise since then.

Elsewhere, KSR’s TJ Walker thinks that Travis will visit UK first, then Villanova later, though the hope is he’ll commit to UK during that trip and end his recruitment. Walker also speculates that a third team could join the mix. If that happens, then this recruitment could easily extend into July after it looked like it could be done in the middle of June.

With as much buzz as UK got when Travis initially became a grad transfer, it’s safe to think it won’t be good news if this recruitment continues to drag out into July.

At this point, I still think UK will end up with Travis, but it’s far from being a sure thing like it was made out to be when he initially announced he would transfer. Villanova has a much stronger case for Travis to come in and not only be their top frontcourt option, but also their best player who takes 13-plus shots per game.

That’s not to say he can’t be that at UK, but with a roster that includes PJ Washington, Ashton Hagans, EJ Montgomery, Keldon Johnson, Nick Richards and other five-star talents, getting there would prove more challenging in Lexington.