5-star center Ugonna Kingsley schedules official visit to Kentucky

Kentucky will host 2023 five-star center Ugonna Kingsley on an official visit starting July 20.

A source close to the Kentucky program tells KSR details are being finalized regarding visit plans, but the trip is in the works.

National recruiting insider Andrew Slater was the first to report the official visit date.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6’11” Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso’23 of @TNEBBallClub & @PSAhoops will take an official visit to the University of Kentucky 👀 on July 20th #BBN 🔵⚪️🔵⚪️🔵 pic.twitter.com/mG082EzF2C

— 𝒜𝓃𝒹𝓇ℯ𝓌 𝒮𝓁𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓇 (@Andrew__Slater) July 14, 2022

Multiple sources tell KSR that the visit was originally scheduled to take place July 25-27, but has since been moved up. The NCAA dead period technically runs through July 24 — hence the original visit schedule — but official visits may also take place during live periods, thus making this trip legal. The live period is set to begin Wednesday, July 20 at noon ET.

The trade-off is that coaches hosting official visitors sacrifice valuable time on the recruiting trail to evaluate prospects. With the visit taking place during Peach Jam — the biggest recruiting event of the year — it’s clearly an important one for the Kentucky basketball program.

Kingsley is ranked No. 5 overall and No. 1 among centers in the latest On3 player rankings.

The five-star prospect previously told On3 that Kentucky was a program he always wanted to play for growing up.

“I’ve been wanting to go to Kentucky all my life, even before coming to the states,” Kingsley told On3 in June. “I don’t really know much about the school yet, but I know it is a good program for athletes, a lot of their guys are pros. I know Oscar Tshiebwe is also from (Africa), it means a lot he has had great success there.”

What is Kingsley looking for in a college?

“I am going to look closely at how the coaches interact with the players,” Kingsley told On3. “If the coach has a good relationship with his players it is going to help you out mentally. Someone like me, coming from Africa, a player and coach relationship is big for me.”

Keep a close eye on this one, BBN.