Aaron Bradshaw follows up Kentucky official visit with Louisville trip

2023 five-star center Aaron Bradshaw won’t leave the Bluegrass without checking out Kentucky’s bitter in-state rival, the Louisville Cardinals.

Just one day after wrapping up his official visit in Lexington, the 7-foot-1 center out of New Jersey is now in Louisville checking out what new head coach Kenny Payne and his Cardinals have to offer. The top-20 prospect shared his location on his Instagram story and has been answering fan questions from inside the basketball facilities throughout the day.

Bradshaw, ranked No. 17 overall and No. 4 among centers in the updated On3 Player Rankings, cut his list to seven back in May. Kentucky and Louisville are joined by Maryland, Oklahoma State, Michigan, UCLA and the NBA G-League on his list.

Kentucky emerges for Bradshaw

How did things go for the Wildcats during his official visit to Lexington? About as well as you could hope.

“The visit has gone very, very well,” 247Sports’ Travis Branham told KSR on NewsRadio 630 WLAP’s Sunday Morning Sports Talk. “Kentucky stands in a very good position with Aaron Bradshaw.”

Two separate situations for Bradshaw and Wagner

Branham stressed that Bradshaw’s recruitment is not tied together with five-star guard DJ Wagner’s situation. Kentucky and Louisville are the two schools fighting at the top of the list for both players, but they aren’t a package deal and could find themselves at different programs.

“This recruitment is not tethered together with DJ (Wagner),” Branham said. “Kentucky wants both players. They’re not saying, ‘We’re recruiting you Aaron just to get DJ’ or whatever, this is two separate players, they just happen to be on the same team. Kentucky is in a great place and the visit this weekend has gone very, very well.”

It wouldn’t hurt, though, to have Wagner’s high school and grassroots teammate locked up and in the five-star guard’s ear early. The two players’ two situations aren’t tied together, but that doesn’t mean they’re not close.

“I definitely think it helps,” Branham added. “You’ve got a guy in DJ’s locker room who can get in DJ’s ear on a day-to-day basis. He can say, ‘Hey man, come play with me, let’s rock out together,’ you know? It’s become a very common thing among these recruits on the same teams and same AAU circuits where they’re always together and have relationships together. The moment one kid commits, they’re immediately in the ear of the other targets. That always helps.

“Say Aaron Bradshaw commits to Kentucky, you now have a kid inside DJ’s locker room, inside his ear who has played with him for years and can help push and prod him. They can develop that relationship even further as he tries to get him to join him at Kentucky.”

What about Wagner?

As for Wagner’s recruitment, Branham says it’s neck-and-neck, with the Cardinals holding a slim lead following the hiring of his grandfather, Milt Wagner. Kentucky remains a serious threat, though, to pull off the win.

“The DJ recruitment is obviously a very interesting one,” Branham told KSR. “I’m still sticking with my current prediction for now, but that’s not saying Kentucky is out of it by any means. Kentucky is in a very good place still with DJ. This is one where I made the prediction, maybe I jumped the gun a little bit — maybe, I don’t think so with the information I had at the time that led me to put that Crystal Ball in.

“As of now, I’m still sticking with Louisville, but it’s a very tight race and I’m never going to count Kentucky out of it. There’s still plenty of time for things to change.”

Four-star guard Reed Sheppard is Kentucky’s lone commitment in the class of 2023, with top-five prospect Robert Dillingham expected to join the fold in the coming weeks. Will Bradshaw and Wagner join them in Lexington?