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Top 2014 center Okafor has Kentucky on the brain

 Posted by at 1:08 AM on April 27, 2013  No Responses »
Apr 272013
 
Class of 2014 center Jahlil Okafor has scholarship offers from Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and several other top schools. Photo: USA Basketball

Class of 2014 center Jahlil Okafor has scholarship offers from Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and several other top schools.
Photo: USA Basketball

Jahlil Okafor has scholarship offers from just about every major program in the country. That comes with the territory when you’re considered the No. 1 overall recruit in your class.

He still hasn’t narrowed his list of schools, but he has a pretty good idea of which ones will make the cut.

“I kind of know in my head, so I will (cut it) soon,” he told the Herald-Leader.

Is Kentucky in his head?

“Kentucky’s in my head,” he said.

Okafor added that there are about eight schools he’s thinking about, and those programs will form a working list as he figures out which campuses he wants to visit.

The 6-foot-11 center from Chicago remains adamant that he will play his college ball with Minnesota native Tyus Jones, who is considered by most recruiting services to be the top point guard in the country.

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Ballard to host Whitney Young on Saturday night

 Posted by at 11:54 PM on January 30, 2013  No Responses »
Jan 302013
 
Class of 2014 center Jahlil Okafor has scholarship offers from Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and several other top schools. Photo: USA Basketball

The Red State Blue State Series doubleheader set for Saturday was called off by organizers Wednesday, but the city of Louisville will still host a marquee game this weekend.

Two of the teams scheduled to play in the canceled doubleheader — Ballard and Whitney Young (Ill.) — will instead face each other Saturday at 8 p.m. at Ballard High School, athletics director Chris Kinney told the Herald-Leader.

Tickets will be $6 for adults and $4 for kids under 12.

Whitney Young is rated as the No. 5 team in the country, according to this week’s ESPN power rankings. The Dolphins are led by Jahlil Okafor, a major UK target who is considered by Rivals.com to be the best player in the class of 2014. Okafor, a 6-11 center, is one of a handful of junior prospects to have already received a scholarship offer from John Calipari.

Ballard is the top-rated team in the Kentucky. The Bruins are led junior point guard Quentin Snider, a five-star recruit who has already committed to Louisville.

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Red State Blue State games for Saturday canceled

 Posted by at 5:50 PM on January 30, 2013  No Responses »
Jan 302013
 

New Jersey center Karl Towns is Kentucky’s only commitment from the class of 2014.
Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

Saturday’s doubleheader in Louisville featuring UK recruits Karl Towns, Jahlil Okafor and Skal Labissiere has been canceled, the event’s organizers announced Wednesday.

Organizers for the Red State Blue State Series posted a short release on their website. All tickets purchased will be refunded immediately, according to the release.

Red State Blue State organizers did not return a request for comment.

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Special deal on tickets for Montverde-Huntington

 Posted by at 9:16 PM on January 25, 2013  2 Responses »
Jan 252013
 

Organizers for the Red State Blue State Series announced Friday night that anyone who purchases a ticket to the Feb. 2 doubleheader at Broadbent Arena between now and Monday will get a free ticket to the March 3 game featuring Montverde Academy and Huntington Prep at Freedom Hall.

The Feb. 2 slate starts with St. Joseph (N.J.) vs. Ballard at 3 p.m. That game will be followed by Whitney Young (Ill.) vs. Evangelical Christian (Tenn.) at 4:30 p.m. UK commitment Karl Towns (St. Joseph) and UK targets Jahlil Okafor (Whitney Young) and Skal Labissiere (Evangelical Christian) will play in that doubleheader.

Tickets for the Feb. 2 games can be purchased through Ticketmaster or by visiting the Freedom Hall/Kentucky Exposition Center box office. The promo, which ends Monday at 2 p.m., will apply through both vendors. No promo code will be given, but Ticketmaster and the box office will record the customer’s name at time of purchase for their free ticket.

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Reminders: Wiggins in Cincinnati; Okafor vs. Parker

 Posted by at 1:09 PM on January 25, 2013  No Responses »
Jan 252013
 

A couple of games to watch over the next two days …

Friday night: Andrew Wiggins and Huntington Prep will play Aiken (Ohio) at 9 p.m. at Withrow High School in Cincinnati. The game is part of the Play By Play Classic, which also includes Dayton Dunbar (Ohio) vs. Summit Country Day (Ohio) at 6 p.m., and Withrow (Ohio) vs. Covington Catholic at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday night: UK recruiting target Jahlil Okafor will play against highly touted Duke commitment Jabari Parker at 9 p.m. on ESPNU. Okafor, the top post player in the class of 2014, already has a scholarship offer from Kentucky. His Whitney Young squad will face Parker and Simeon High in a matchup of Chicago’s two best teams.

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Tickets available for Montverde vs. Huntington Prep

 Posted by at 2:19 PM on January 24, 2013  No Responses »
Jan 242013
 

UK commitment Dakari Johnson and Montverde Academy will play Huntington Prep on March 3 in Louisville.
File photo: Scott McIntyre

Tickets went on sale Thursday for the March 3 matchup between Montverde Academy (Fla.) and Huntington Prep (W.Va.).

The game, part of the new Red State Blue State Series, will be played at Freedom Hall in Louisville and features UK commitment Dakari Johnson (Montverde) and top UK recruit Andrew Wiggins (Huntington Prep). Montverde also includes junior guard D’Angelo Russell, a Louisville native who is considering UK and U of L.

Tickets for the game can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or at the Freedom Hall box office (no Ticketmaster fees).

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Two big UK recruits added to series in Louisville

 Posted by at 1:07 PM on January 14, 2013  No Responses »
Jan 142013
 

Class of 2014 center Jahlil Okafor has scholarship offers from Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and several other top schools.
Photo: USA Basketball

Two of UK’s biggest recruiting targets have been added to the Red State Blue State Series event set for Feb. 2 at Broadbent Arena in Louisville.

Junior center Jahlil Okafor and Whitney Young (Ill.) will take on sophomore center Skal Labissiere and Evangelical Christian (Tenn.) at 4:30 p.m., immediately following the game featuring UK commitment Karl Towns and Louisville commitment Quentin Snider.

Okafor is the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2014, according to Rivals.com. The 6-11 center has led Whitney Young to a 13-1 record this season, with the Dolphins’ only loss coming in overtime to nationally ranked No. 1 Montverde Academy (Fla.).

Okafor is considering UK along with several other schools, and talked to the Herald-Leader last week about his recruitment.

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Top center Okafor says he will ‘definitely’ visit UK

 Posted by at 4:40 PM on January 7, 2013  2 Responses »
Jan 072013
 

Class of 2014 center Jahlil Okafor has scholarship offers from Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and several other top schools.
Photo: USA Basketball

WHEELING, W.Va. — A who’s who of college basketball powerhouses are already chasing Jahlil Okafor, the No. 1 post player in the class of 2014.

On Saturday at the Cancer Research Classic, Okafor named off a list that included Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Louisville, Michigan State, Ohio State, Arizona, Georgetown, UCLA and several others high-major programs.

Okafor won’t even be playing college ball until the 2014-15 season. Some of the coaches on that list would like to see him at their school a little earlier.

“I won’t say who, but some of them have mentioned that it might be good for me to reclassify,” Okafor told the Herald-Leader. “They say there’s really no point for me to go another year (of high school). But I’m just taking my time and enjoying it.”

Okafor later said he would “definitely not” reclassify to 2013. Talent-wise, he’s already among the best in the country.

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Attention recruiting fans: Please don’t do this …

 Posted by at 8:21 PM on October 3, 2012  No Responses »
Oct 032012
 

Jahlil Okafor, a Kentucky target and one of the top recruits in the class of 2014, offered some advice on timing Wednesday night.

I’ll let his tweet speak for itself …


Completely inappropriate to ask “Are you Jahlil Okafor” then followed by another question “what college are you going too” At a funeral.. 😒👎
October 3, 2012 7:54 PM via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@jahprobound
Jahlil Okafor

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Chicago strike continues to affect UK recruiting

 Posted by at 1:56 AM on September 17, 2012  No Responses »
Sep 172012
 

On Friday, it looked as if a deal had been reached to end the Chicago teachers’ strike. That agreement would have sent that city’s public school students back to class.

A resolution also would have allowed underclassmen basketball players to be visited by college coaches.

The tentative deal fell apart Sunday night.

Why do we care on this blog?

Because two of the top class of 2014 recruits attend public schools in Chicago and cannot meet with college coaches until the strike is over.

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