2014 Kentucky Basketball Recruiting Big Board

A lot has happened since the last time we posted the Big Board, so I decided it was time to dust if off and give it a good update. Check out UK's latest offers and who's moving up and down Cal's radar in the 2014 class (green up arrows: good for UK; red down arrows: bad for UK; no arrows: unknown/no change). COMMITTED Karl Towns Center 7'1", 235 lbs. Metuchen, New Jersey (St. Joeseph) Rivals: 9 ESPN: 6 Scout: 8 247: 10 Committed to Kentucky on 12/04/2012 Recent buzz: Playing for the Dominican Republic National Team this summer, will not participate in the Elite 24 game Video: Discussing getting stronger over the past year 5% of college coaches think he will be the best pro of the 2014 class, others think he will struggle in college Was the topic of a recent documentary by MSG Varsity entitled "Center of Attention" TARGETS OFFERED Jahlil Okafor Center 6'10", 280 lbs. Chicago, Illinois (Whitney Young) Rivals: 1 ESPN: 1 Scout: 1 247: 6 Final eight: Arizona, Baylor, Duke, Illinois, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State and Ohio State Visited UK: Will take an official visit to UK on 9/9 for the Alumni Game Fun Fact: Has said he wants to be a package deal with Tyus Jones Recent buzz: Shoots down rumors he has a leader AAU coach says he "has always talked" about Kentucky 50% of college coaches believe he will have the best pro career of the 2014 class Won't visit Kentucky with Tyus Jones Tyus Jones Point guard 6'1", 171 lbs. Apple Valley, Minnesota (Apple Valley) Rivals: 2 ESPN: 3 Scout: 2 247: 5 Schools offered: Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State Visited UK: Kentucky/Texas A&M game on 1/12/2013; will take an official visit to UK on 9/27 Fun fact: Had a granny recruit him to UK during his visit Recent buzz: Won't visit Kentucky with Jahlil Okafor Recently blogged about his conversations with Orlando Antigua AAU Coach says Duke is his leader Will participate in the Elite 24 game this weekend in New York Emmanuel Mudiay Point guard 6'4", 185 lbs. Arlington, Texas (Prime Prep Academy) Rivals: 3 ESPN: 5 Scout: 3 247: 1 Considering: Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma State, SMU, and Baylor Visited UK: Will take an official visit to UK for Big Blue Madness on 10/18 Fun fact: Kentucky is considered his favorite Recent buzz: 9% of college coaches believe he will the best pro in the 2014 class Blogs that he is "definitely excited" for Big Blue Madness ESPN Insider believes it will come down to Kentucky and SMU 247's Jerry Meyer still predicts Mudiay will come to UK, but isn't as confident as he used to be about the pick Will participate in the Elite 24 game this weekend in New York Stanley Johnson Small forward 6'6", 200 lbs. Santa Ana, California (Mater Dei) Rivals: 8 ESPN: 12 Scout: 8 247: 2 Schools offered: Arizona, Kentucky, Kansas, Florida, Oregon, Duke, UCLA, and USC Visited UK: Will take an official visit to UK for Big Blue Madness on 10/18 Fun fact: Played on the same AAU team as Aaron Gordon Recent buzz: KSR's recent profile of Johnson Had an impressive run at adidas Nations Will participate in the Elite 24 game this weekend in New York Trey Lyles Power forward 6'10", 245 lbs. Indianapolis, Indiana (Arsenal Technical) Rivals: 5 ESPN: 4 Scout: 4 247: 17 Considering: Butler, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville Visited UK: 10/13/2012 for Big Blue Madness; 2/09/2013 for UK vs. Auburn; 3/09/2013 for UK vs. Florida; Will take an official visit to UK for Big Blue Madness on 10/18 Fun fact: Used to be committed to Indiana but wised up Recent buzz: KSR's recent profile of Lyles 11% of college coaches believe he will struggle in college Father says he is friends with James Blackmon, Jr., but there is no tie in their recruitments Will play in the Marshall County Hoopfest Video: Played for Team Canada this summer Rashad Vaughn Shooting guard 6'6", 200 lbs. Minneapolis, Minnesota (Robbinsdale Cooper) Rivals: 7 ESPN: 11 Scout: 11 247: 9 Considering: Baylor, Iowa State, North Carolina, UConn, Kansas, Kentucky, UNLV, Arizona, GeorgeTown, UCLA, and Minnesota Visited UK: May visit for Big Blue Madness on 10/18 Fun fact: Transferred to Findlay Prep in Las Vegas, where he will play with Kelly Oubre Recent buzz: Plans to be a one-and-done Claims he has no favorites Will participate in the Elite 24 game this weekend in New York Cliff Alexander Center/Power forward 6'8", 240 lbs. Chicago, Illinois (Curie) Rivals: 4 ESPN: 2 Scout: 6 247: 3 Considering: Illinois, Kansas, Michigan State, Kentucky, Louisville, DePaul, Indiana, Memphis, Baylor and Arizona Visited UK: 10/13/2012 for Big Blue Madness Recent buzz: Tweeted list of five official visits, Kentucky not included (tweet has since been deleted) Jeff Goodman thinks UK has the 4th best chance of landing Alexander 16% of college coaches believe he will be the best pro of the 2014 class Karl Towns says he and Alexander could "do really great things together" at UK Video: Dunking highlights Devin Booker Shooting guard 6'3", 180 lbs. Moss Point, Mississippi (Moss Point) Rivals: 27 ESPN: 16 Scout: 31 247: 32 Considering: Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Florida, Kentucky Visited UK: Will take an official visit to UK for the Alumni Game on 9/9/2013 Fun fact: Has been compared to Steph Curry Recent buzz: Video: New highlights Says at UK, you "can do everything in basketball you want to do" Will participate in the Elite 24 game this weekend in New York James Blackmon, Jr. Shooting guard 6'2", 175 lbs. Marion, Indiana (Marion) Rivals: 33 ESPN: 25 Scout: 57 247: 31 Considering: Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina, Michigan State, Louisville, Florida, Minnesota, Memphis, Purdue, UCLA, Oklahoma State, UConn Visited UK: Will make an unofficial visit to UK on 8/29; may take an official visit to UK for Big Blue Madness on 10/18 Fun fact: Decommitted from Indiana on 8/8 Recent buzz: Despite friendship, there is no tie between his and Trey Lyles' recruitments Video: New highlights Pushed back unofficial visit to Louisville Kelly Oubre Small forward 6'7", 190 lbs. Ford Bend, Texas (Findlay Prep) Rivals: 19 ESPN: 20 Scout: 28 247: 4 Considering: Kansas, Florida, Kentucky, Georgetown, Louisville, Oregon, UConn and UNLV Visited UK: May visit UK for Big Blue Madness on 10/18 Fun fact: Will play with Rashad Vaughn at Findlay Prep this season; jumped onto UK's radar after a good showing in the Peach Jam Recent buzz: Video: New highlights Won MVP honors at the Big Strick Classic Will participate in the Elite 24 game this weekend in New York Tyler Ulis Point guard 5'9", 150 lbs. Matteson, Illinois (Marian Catholic) Rivals: 49 ESPN: 38 Scout: 41 247: 52 Considering: Kentucky, Michigan State, Southern Cal and Iowa Visted UK: Took an unofficial visit on 8/16/2014; will visit UK again on 9/9 for the Alumni Game Fun fact: Got an offer from Calipari last Friday during his official visit Recent buzz: Says it was "great" to get an offer from Cal, has no timetable Mike DeCourcy says he's the 23rd best recruit in the country Dad loves Cal's history with point guards and getting players to the pros Justise Winslow Small forward 6'5", 208 lbs. Houston, Texas (Saint John's) Rivals: 16 ESPN: 15 Scout: 13 247: 13 Considering: Arizona, Duke, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Stanford, Texas A&M, UCLA Visited UK: Not yet Fun fact: Got an offer after an impressive performance at the Peach Jam Recent buzz: Says he will cut his list in September Has discussed playing with Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor Video: Crazy dunk Will participate in the Elite 24 game this weekend in New York Dante Exum Point guard 6'5" Canberra, Australia It's still not clear what Exum will do once he graduates high school in Australia in November. He could enroll in college for the second semester of the 2013-2014 season and then declare for the NBA Draft in June, or he could wait to enroll in college until the 2014-2015 season. Regardless, he has a scholarship offer from Kentucky, along with Indiana, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, and SMU. OF INTEREST Josh Perkins Point guard, 6'2", 175 lbs. Rivals: 28; ESPN: 24; Scout: 18; 247: 37 Aurora, Colorado (Huntington Prep) UK activity: Waiting for an offer from Cal Recent buzz: Perkins is still waiting on an offer from Kentucky, but his father says the communication between his son and Cal has "died down a little bit." Considering he's announcing his decision on August 24th and Cal just gave an offer to Tyler Ulis, it doesn't look like Perkins will be a Cat anytime soon. Myles Turner Center, 6'11" 225 lbs. Rivals: 6; ESPN: 10; Scout: 5; 247: 7 Euless, Texas (Trinity High School) UK activity: Still doesn't have an offer from UK, but his father says that Cal wants to do an in-home visit with the family this fall. There has been talk between the staff and Turner about pairing him with Karl Towns on the interior. Isaiah Whitehead Shooting guard, 6'4" 170 lbs. Rivals: 17; ESPN: 35; Scout: 17; 247: 20 Brooklyn, New York (Lincoln) UK activity: No recent activity OFF THE RADAR: Abdul Malik Abu, Jalen Lindsey, Goodluck Okonoboh, Craig Victor, Leron Black