John Calipari has traveled the country like a Big Blue Santa Claus over the past few days. Instead of toys, he’s been handing out UK basketball scholarships.
Class of 2014 forward Trey Lyles got one Tuesday. It was 2013 center Kennedy Meeks on Wednesday. And then 2013 forward Marcus Lee on Sunday night.
Tyler Roberson could be next.
Calipari will make the trip to New Jersey for an in-home visit with Roberson sometime Tuesday evening, Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff told the Herald-Leader on Monday. UK assistant Orlando Antigua was at Roselle Catholic last week to see Roberson work out during an open gym.
(New video of the 2013 recruit was posted Monday. You can watch it above.)
Roberson, a 6-7 forward, is ranked among the top players in the class by Rivals (29th), Scout (46th) and ESPN (24th). The other nine schools on his list have already stopped by for a visit since the contact period began last Sunday. Those schools are Kansas, Syracuse, SMU, Rutgers, Alabama, Florida, Seton Hall, South Carolina and Villanova.
Roberson had an injured ankle when Antigua and Kansas assistant Joe Dooley came to see him last week, but he fought through it and worked out for the coaches anyway.
Boff told the Herald-Leader last week that, while there have been no guarantees, he wouldn’t be surprised if UK offered a scholarship during Tuesday’s in-home visit.
“There’s a lot of places where Orlando and Coach Calipari could spend their time over the next couple of weeks,” he said. “To go see a senior, you would think that there would probably be an offer at some point.
“I feel like when people are around this late in the game, they usually don’t do it unless they’re planning to put a scholarship on the table. … But, again, I’ve had no guarantees from anyone at Kentucky that there will be an offer.”
The Kentucky Effect….it’s effective…Go Gett’um Coach.