Jackson
247Sports national analyst Jerry Meyer logged a Crystal Ball prediction in favor of Alabama on the page of UK target Isaiah Jackson on Tuesday, the latest sign that the highly touted forward could be heading somewhere other than Lexington.
A little more than a month ago, national recruiting expert Andrew Slater logged a Crystal Ball pick in favor of Alabama for Jackson, who visited UK earlier this fall, and — for a few weeks — looked like he was favoring the Wildcats.
Devin Askew
With five-star point guard Devin Askew set to make his college announcement Thursday night, Kentucky has established itself as the major favorite to land his commitment.
The Wildcats picked up predictions from 247Sports national analyst Evan Daniels and Rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi on Wednesday, when it was revealed that Askew would announce his college decision Thursday at 11 p.m., less than two weeks after completing his official visit to Kentucky.
Cunningham
247Sports national analyst Evan Daniels has made a Crystal Ball prediction in favor of Kentucky for five-star point guard Cade Cunningham, the top-ranked uncommitted player in the class of 2020.
Cunningham — a 6-foot-7 prospect from Texas — attended Big Blue Madness on Friday night and wrapped up his official visit to UK later in the weekend. Daniels logged the pick Sunday afternoon.
Kentucky is one of five finalists for Cunningham — ranked No. 2 nationally by 247Sports — with Oklahoma State, Florida, North Carolina and Washington rounding out his top five. The Herald-Leader was told in recent days that Cunningham will ultimately pick either UK or Oklahoma State, where his older brother was just hired as an assistant coach.
Devin Askew
National recruiting expert Andrew Slater had switched his Crystal Ball pick to Kentucky in the recruitment of Devin Askew, becoming the latest insider to pick the Cats for the five-star point guard from California.
Askew — a top-10 player in the 2021 class — has taken recent visits to Kentucky, Louisville, Arizona and Memphis, and he is expected to announce his college decision sometime in the next couple of weeks. There is also a chance that Askew will jump to the 2020 class, though that decision likely won’t be made until after the high school season.
Slater had originally picked Louisville for Askew, but UK landed the last visit in his recruitment — an official visit this past weekend — and the Wildcats appear to have all of the momentum going into his college decision.
Devin Askew
247Sports national analyst Jerry Meyer is the latest college basketball recruiting expert to put in a pro-Kentucky prediction for five-star point guard Devin Askew.
Meyer put in the pick for Kentucky over the weekend, when Askew was in Lexington for his official visit. He’s also taken recent recruiting trips to Arizona, Louisville and Memphis, and U of L has been seen as the Wildcats’ biggest competition for the California native.
Rivals.com national analyst Corey Evans is also predicting that Askew will end up at Kentucky, telling the Herald-Leader late last week that he’d be a great fit for the Wildcats.
Jackson
For the past couple of weeks, there’s been considerable chatter in recruiting circles that Kentucky might be in the best spot to land five-star power forward Isaiah Jackson.
The 6-foot-9 power forward from Detroit took an official visit to Lexington earlier this month, and the Herald-Leader was told as recently as last week that he might be the Wildcats’ most likely commitment in the fall, following the recent pledges of Lance Ware and Terrence Clarke.
It might not be that simple.
Barnes
Rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi has logged a Future Cast prediction in favor of Oregon for five-star forward Scottie Barnes, who was the first recruit in the 2020 class to land a scholarship offer from John Calipari.
Fellow Rivals recruiting analyst Corey Evans also logged a pro-Oregon pick on Barnes’ page last month.
There’s hasn’t been much recent buzz related to Kentucky in Barnes’ recruitment, and Oregon has long been seen as the dream school for the Florida native. Rivals.com ranks him as the No. 9 overall recruit in the 2020 class. He played Nike league ball with Isaiah Todd this past summer, and he will be high school teammates this season with Cade Cunningham.
Jalen Green
National recruiting expert Andrew Slater logged a prediction in favor of Oregon on the Crystal Ball page of five-star shooting guard Jalen Green on Monday, just after the California native wrapped up his official visit to the school.
Green — the No. 3 player in the 247Sports rankings — had been a longtime Kentucky recruiting target, but the Wildcats have moved on from his recruitment following Saturday’s commitment from five-star shooting guard Terrence Clarke, who should join several other talented guards and wings on next year’s UK team.
Sissoko
Two basketball prospects in the class of 2020 that have been linked to Kentucky but are still waiting on scholarship offers from the Wildcats are the subjects of new predictions from national recruiting analysts.
Rivals.com national analyst Corey Evans has logged a pick in favor of Oklahoma State for JT Thor, a highly touted forward who recently announced a move from the 2021 class to 2020, where he’s ranked No. 53 overall by Rivals.com.
Thor — a 6-foot-9 prospect now at Norcross (Ga.) — visited UK multiple times while he was a student at nearby Huntington (W.Va.) Prep, but he has not received a Kentucky scholarship offer.
Clarke
National recruiting expert Andrew Slater logged a Crystal Ball prediction in favor of Kentucky on Monday for Terrence Clarke, one of the top high school basketball players in the country.
Clarke — a 6-foot-6 guard — is currently the No. 3 overall prospect in the 247Sports rankings for the class of 2021, but he’s widely expected to reclassify to 2020 and play just one more season of high school basketball before moving on to college. A reclassification announcement is expected soon.
