Updated ESPN Rankings

Andrew Wiggins sits atop the 2014 Class

Dave Telep and ESPN have updated their rankings for the 2013, 14, and 15 classes. The first five in 2013 look like this:

All five of the these recruits have UK on their short list and could conceivably get 4 or 5 of the top 10 recruits. The other recruit in the top 10 with UK in his name is Aaron Gordon who said UK is in his top three. This is just once again another sign that this class could end up being the best ever.

Other UK recruits:

13. Wayne Selden

17. Kennedy Meeks

23. Xavier Rathan-Mayes

27. Marcus Lee

44. Jordan Mickey

On to the 2014 class, as expected Andrew Wiggins is atop that list, here is ESPN’s top 5 for the class:

UK is also in on everybody on this list, except Okafor. Wiggins is down to Florida State and Kentucky. Tyus Jones a PG has an offer from the cats, while Noah Vonleh and Dakari Johnson are both getting recruited by Calipari and Kentucky. 2014 could even be a better class if Wiggins doesn’t reclassify, than the 2013 class.

Here are rankings of other UK recruits:

6. Emmanuel Mudiay

7. Trey Lyles – recent decommit from Indiana, I would expect UK to be interested

10. Cliff Alexander – UK has offered

15. D’Angelo Russell

16. Jalen Lindsey

17. Jaquan Lyle

19. Chris McCullough

24. Stanley Johnson

30. Keita Bates-Diop

43. Isaiah Whitehead – UK has offered

UK has all the parts in shape for the makings of a big class. They are in on many of the top recruits, but Calipari hasn’t offered yet because he usually wait and pick and choose who he wants to give the offer to because kids are now working to get the offer from UK, and Calipari has the advantage of waiting before pulling the string.

And now on the the ESPN Ranking of the 2015 Class:

Once again a recruit UK is extremely in on is Karl Towns Jr. and he takes the top spot for the 2015 Class. Calipari coached his this summer as Towns played for the Dominican Republic team preparing to qualify for the Olympics, so you would think that UK has the inside track to getting Towns.

Here is the top 5:

Now it is extremely early to be talking about the 2015 class, and UK and Calipari has yet to dive in on this class and no offers have been handed out to any of these players. We will have to wait and see how this class turns out.

But as you can see, UK is involved with the elite of the elite and their will be some great recruits headed to the University of Kentucky here in the next couple of years and I can’t wait to see who they are.

James Young to decide in November

Recently James Young came out and said that he would “probably” wait until the Spring to announce his college decision. But zagsblog.com recently caught up with Young’s former AAU coach, Marlon Williamson, and he said that Young will most likely announce in November. Here is an excerpt from the article:

 

Williamson, who recently became an assistant under Derek Kellogg at UMass, said Young’s “top four” consisted of Kentucky, Michigan State, Arizona and Kansas.

Kentucky has long been considered the No. 1 option for Young, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard whose stock rose heavily during the spring and summer.

“He still loves them,” Williamson said. “He’s just weighing all his options right now.”

Kentucky coach John Calipari watched Young throughout the Nike Global Challenge — where he led Team USA Midwest to the title over Andrew Wiggins and Team Canada — and the Peach Jam.

“That school [Kentucky] right now is across the board the school that you want to attend if you want to get out [of college] early,” Williamson said.

“Coach Cal has done a great job taking kids to the next level. Of course that will be somebody you will consider heavy.”

Young also told SNY.tv during the Peach Jam that his goal was to be one-and -done.

 

Everything around Young’s camp still points to Kentucky, even though most have thought that Calipari has changed his strategy to get Young, and instead go after Xavier Rathan-Mayes to entice Andrew Wiggins to come along with. I really like Young though, he knows how to score and is one of those guys that can take over a game, and will play hard. Either way Calipari can’t go wrong.

Summer Player Of the Year

Andrew Wiggins is named summer POY by Five Star Basketball Five Star Basketball

AAU summer recap

Eric Bossi of Rivals.com recaps the summer AAU season and no surprise Andrew Wiggins took home the MVP. Bossi says:

Could there be any other choice than Andrew Wiggins for the player of the summer? The 6-foot-7 wing from the class of 2014 was the most dominant force at both the LeBron James Skills Academy and the Nike Peach Jam. Whether he stays in the class of 2014 or moves to 2013, he is the top player in high school ball.

There is plenty more information about other 2013 targets including Julius Randle, Harrison twins, James Young, Xavier Rathan-Mayes, and more.

UK Targets added to Big Strick Classic/Elite 24

Mark Aug. 11 down on your calendar because this is going to be a game loaded with recruits in the 2013 and 2014 class. The event is called “The Big Strick Classic” and will played at City College in New York City. Here are the UK targets that are included in this event. From the USA team: Aaron and Andrew Harrison, Andrew Wiggins, Jalen Lindsey, and Kuran Iverson and from the NYC team: Noah Vonleh, Troy Williams, Isaiah Whitehead, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Chris McCollough. The game will be broadcast on SNY.tv.

In the Under Armour Elite 24, the first twelve players were selected to participate in the event and once again plenty of UK flavor. The Harrison twins, Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Kuran Iverson, and Marcus Lee were all selected. The next twelve players are to be selected in August and look for more UK targets to be selected. The game will be played on Venice Beach Courts in Los Angeles on Aug 24-25 and will air live on ESPNU.

Has Calipari Changed recruiting strategy for Wiggins?

There has been a lot of talk surrounding James Young and Xavier Rathan-Mayes. Of course James Young is an elite prospect, a consensus top-10 prospect that seems to love UK and many seem to think he is lock. James Young recently said though that he would probably wait until the Spring to commit to a school, which was opposite of what many thought would happen. With news of Calipari actively recruiting Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who plays the same position of Young, Shooting Guard, many seem to think that Calipari wants Mayes more. Mayes is a top 25 recruit sure but he isnt on the same level as Young. So why would Calipari prefer Mayes over Young? Enter Andrew Wiggins, which many people seem to think is the best basketball player in the nation regardless of class. Andrew Wiggins has been thinking about reclassifying into the 2013 class and skipping his junior year of high school so he can get to college sooner. Wiggins and Mayes have been best friends since they were young, and have talked about teaming up in college as a “package deal.” Wiggins is the cant-miss prospect in all of basketball and it seems like Calipari doesnt want to miss out on the chance to coach him.

Xavier Rathan-Mayes

ESPN Ranking: 21

Rivals Ranking: 48

Scout Ranking: 42

Xavier Rathan-Mayes is a 6’4, 180 lb Shooting Guard from Ontario, Canada while he plays high school ball at Huntington Prep in West Virginia. Rathan-Mayes is a very good three point shooter and has been one of the best scorers in the country. He has visited UK already and has recently been in contact with Coach John Calipari. One of the most important things for Rathan-Mayes though, is that he is best friends with the best player in the Country, Andrew Wiggins. Adam Zagoria recently published an article that said Rathan-Mayes and Wiggins could team up in college. Rathan-Mayes says, “We’ve always wanted to play together since we were young and go to school together so thats definitely a possibility.” Other school recruiting Rathan-Mayes are Florida State, Florida, Illinois, UConn, Baylor, Kansas, UCLA, and Alabama. Here is his highlight video.