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Weekend recap: Gordon’s finale & Calipari’s road trip

 Posted by at 1:33 AM on March 25, 2013  No Responses »
Mar 252013
 
2013 forward Aaron Gordon is considering Kentucky, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Photo: Associated Press

2013 forward Aaron Gordon is considering Kentucky, Arizona, Oregon and Washington.
Photo: Associated Press

Some recruiting stories you might have missed amid the recent Madness …

Aaron Gordon played his final high school game Saturday night. The undecided 2013 prospect and his Archbishop Mitty squad fell to Mater Dei 50-45 in the California state finals. Gordon had 22 points and 20 rebounds in his last game with Mitty. The top-10 recruit will choose among UK, Arizona, Washington and Oregon during next week’s McDonald’s All-American Game. The consensus in recruiting circles is that Gordon, a San Jose native, will stay out West and pick one of the three finalists other than Kentucky. Mater Dei was led by 2014 forward Stanley Johnson, who scored 26 points in the title game and already has a scholarship offer from UK. Gordon and Johnson were teammates last year with the Oakland Soldiers, who won the Peach Jam finals over the summer.

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Kentucky recruits win state player of year honors

 Posted by at 11:45 AM on March 21, 2013  1 Response »
Mar 212013
 
Madison Central guard Dominique Hawkins has been named Kentucky's Gatorade Player of the Year. Photo: Tim Webb

Madison Central guard Dominique Hawkins has been named Kentucky’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
Photo: Tim Webb

The selections for Gatorade Player of the Year honors for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., were released Thursday, and several familiar names were on the list.

Starting close to home, Madison Central star Dominique Hawkins was named Kentucky’s Gatorade Player of the Year after leading the Indians to their first Sweet Sixteen championship in school history. Hawkins is now being recruited by Kentucky, which is waiting to see how its scholarship situation for next season works out before extending an offer.

Hawkins already has offers from South Carolina, Murray State, Morehead State and Western Kentucky, among others. He has said in recent weeks that he’s willing to wait on Kentucky.

In neighboring West Virginia, Andrew Wiggins of Huntington Prep took Gatorade state honors. Wiggins, who has narrowed his list to UK, Florida State, North Carolina and Kansas, accepted his Naismith Player of the Year award earlier this week. He’s regarded as the No. 1 overall player in all of high school basketball.

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Weekend recap: Dakari Johnson visits Kentucky

 Posted by at 1:33 AM on February 25, 2013  5 Responses »
Feb 252013
 
UK commitment Dakari Johnson posed for a picture with ESPN analyst Jay Bilas during his official visit Saturday.

UK commitment Dakari Johnson posted a picture of himself with ESPN analyst Jay Bilas during his official visit to Lexington on Saturday.

Wrapping up the biggest storylines of the weekend …

UK commitment Dakari Johnson finally got to take his official visit to Lexington. The 7-foot senior was at Sayre — where he attended middle school — on Friday, took in the ESPN Gameday festivities on Saturday morning and returned to Rupp for UK’s big win over Missouri on Saturday night. Johnson sat directly behind the Wildcats bench during the game, cheering along with the rest of the crowd while wearing a UK sweatshirt and hat. He later tweeted a photo from inside the UK locker room with the message: “Trying to hang one next year.” Johnson, who committed in January, can sign with Kentucky on April 17.

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UK recruit Tyus Jones sidelined with another injury

 Posted by at 2:12 PM on January 11, 2013  4 Responses »
Jan 112013
 

Tyus Jones is rated by Scout.com and ESPN as the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2014.
Photo: Sherri LaRose-Chiglo/Pioneer Press

The UK basketball staff might want to have a golf cart on standby for Tyus Jones’ unofficial visit this weekend.

The No. 1 player in the class of 2014 suffered a sprained ankle during practice Wednesday and did not play for Apple Valley (Minn.) on Thursday night.

Apple Valley Coach Zach Goring told the Herald-Leader there is no timetable for Jones’ return to the court. The injury will not affect his visit to UK. He is scheduled to leave Friday night and stay for Saturday’s game against Texas A&M.

Jones missed several games earlier this season with back spasms, and was just rounding back into shape when the latest injury occurred. Goring predicted his star player was at “95 percent” for Apple Valley’s game Tuesday, when Jones had 24 points and eight rebounds.

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Top point guard Jones will visit UK this weekend

 Posted by at 3:20 PM on January 9, 2013  No Responses »
Jan 092013
 

Minnesota point guard Tyus Jones is considered the No. 1 overall recruit in the country by Scout.com and ESPN.
Photo: The Pioneer Press

Tyus Jones, perhaps the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2014, will make an unofficial visit to Kentucky this weekend.

Apple Valley (Minn.) Coach Zach Goring told the Herald-Leader that Jones will arrive in Lexington on Friday and stay for Saturday’s SEC home opener against Texas A&M.

Jones, who Scout.com and ESPN ranks as the No. 1 overall prospect in 2014, has narrowed his list of schools to UK, Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and North Carolina. This will be his first visit to Kentucky.

UK Coach John Calipari visited Jones twice in a four-day span last month.

The 6-foot-1 point guard could become part of one of the biggest “package deals” in recent years. Jones and Jahlil Okafor — the No. 1 post player in the class — are best friends and have long talked of attending the same school.

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Calipari makes two mid-week recruiting stops

 Posted by at 4:21 PM on December 8, 2012  No Responses »
Dec 082012
 

After Tuesday night’s victory over Samford, John Calipari said he was going to spend the next day on the recruiting trail.

Turns out the UK coach paid visits Wednesday to Tyus Jones and Trey Lyles, two of the top junior prospects in the country.

Calipari traveled to Minneapolis to see Jones, a day after the 6-foot point guard scored 33 points in his season opener. That game was attended by Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo and Ohio State Coach Thad Matta.

Jones is rated by Scout.com as the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2014. He recently narrowed his list to eight schools: UK, Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and North Carolina.

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No. 1 recruit Tyus Jones narrows list to 8 schools

 Posted by at 10:19 PM on November 3, 2012  2 Responses »
Nov 032012
 

Tyus Jones, who some recruiting services consider the No. 1 overall prospect in the class of 2014, narrowed his list to Kentucky and seven other schools Saturday night.

In a tweet, Jones announced that he is still considering UK, Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and North Carolina.

Jones, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Apple Valley, Minn., is ranked as the No. 1 junior in the country by Scout.com and ESPN. 24/7 Sports puts him at No. 2, and he’s No. 3 according to Rivals.com and MaxPreps.

He is one of seven 2014 recruits known to have scholarship offers from Kentucky. Emmanuel Mudiay is the only other point guard from that class with a UK offer.

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2014 point guards: Tyus Jones vs. Emmanuel Mudiay

 Posted by at 6:51 PM on August 14, 2012  3 Responses »
Aug 142012
 

Class of 2014 point guard Emmanuel Mudiay told The Cats’ Pause on Tuesday that he has received a scholarship offer from Kentucky, reiterating what he said to Five-Star Basketball back in June.

If true, that means John Calipari has already offered two point guards in 2014. And they could end up being the best two players in their class.

Scout.com released its new 2014 rankings Tuesday morning and (shocker!) Andrew Wiggins was No. 1. The top UK target was immediately followed by Jones and Mudiay. Assuming Wiggins heads to the class of 2013 (an assumption held by many), that would make the point guard duo the top two recruits on Scout’s board.

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Andrew Wiggins in, James Young out at Peach Jam

 Posted by at 8:27 PM on July 21, 2012  No Responses »
Jul 212012
 

CIA Bounce’s Andrew Wiggins is averaging 21.4 points per game at the Peach Jam.

Andrew Wiggins struggled from the field but made all 11 of his free-throw attempts Saturday night to help CIA Bounce secure a spot in the Peach Jam semifinals.

John Calipari showed up to watch the second half as Wiggins finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in a quarterfinal victory over Team United. The No. 1 prospect in the class of 2014 is averaging 21.4 points at the Nike-sponsored Peach Jam.

CIA Bounce will face the Kansas City-based Mokan Elite in the first semifinal Sunday at 9 a.m. The Oakland Soldiers, led by UK targets Aaron Gordon and Stanley Johnson, will face the CP3 All-Stars in the second semifinal at 10:30 am. The championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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