5-star PF Caleb Wilson 'would like to hear' from new Kentucky staff

Caleb Wilson was among the top recruiting targets under the old staff of Kentucky men’s basketball. However, so far, new leadership has turned its attention elsewhere through the first month-plus on the job.

Wilson, ranked No. 4 overall in the 2025 class by the On3 Industry Ranking, is interested to see if that will change in the near future.

“I would like to hear from them,” Wilson told KSR over the weekend about Kentucky. “It’s an SEC school, very good conference, so I feel like it’s somewhere I could play and have games close to home.”

New head coach Mark Pope and his assistants had plenty of eyes on Wilson in Indianapolis during the third Nike EYBL session of the season. Suiting up for a talented Nightrydas Elite (9-1) squad that also features twin brothers Cameron and Cayden Boozer, Wilson played in four games up in Indy. A Kentucky coach was on the baseline to check out the action for all of them.

“That’s the first time (Kentucky) got eyes on me,” Wilson told reporters. “I haven’t really heard from them at all (assistant Alvin Brooks briefly reached out last month). But like I said to you in Memphis, good program and definitely high caliber.”

Through seven games played with Nightrydas Elite, Wilson is averaging 12.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per outing while shooting 53.1 percent overall and 68.4 percent from the line.

If Pope and his staff do elect to recruit Wilson more, the 6-foot-9 power forward will have some ammunition for a conversation. Wilson is familiar with the offensive style that Pope used as the head coach of BYU.

“I’ve actually been watching film on a lot of colleges. I’ve watched BYU film, I watched them play a good amount last year,” he said. “Although they weren’t talented with five-star prospects or very athletic guys, they won. And they won in a tough conference.”

But until Pope and Kentucky made a real run at Wilson, his recruitment will continue as scheduled.

Wilson says the likes of Georgia Tech, Duke, Auburn, Arkansas, and Tennessee have all been talking with him the most as of late. Arkansas, now led by UK’s former coach John Calipari, quickly offered him once the new staff was put into place. Ohio State reached out with an offer earlier this month, too. A native of Georgia, he specifically named Georgia Tech’s Damon Stoudamire as the head coach he’s closest to.

As of right now, Wilson has no visits planned, which could be good news for Kentucky if the coaches decide to begin building a relationship. However, he added that he could begin to trim down his options in the next 2-3 weeks once the live period is over. If Kentucky wants to ramp things up, Wilson will listen.