Aaron Bradshaw plans to visit Kentucky, Maryland this summer

Aaron Bradshaw is arguably the top-ranked pure big man among an admittedly lackluster group of centers, but he’s slowly working his way into the conversation as one of the country’s best high school juniors — regardless of position.

Bradshaw is still incredibly raw, but he has qualities that are tough to teach. He’s a clean 7-feet tall and weighs just over 200 pounds with quick feet and an even faster first jump. The On3 Consensus has him ranked No. 20 overall in the country, just short of a five-star rating. Kentucky offered Bradshaw roughly two weeks ago following his impressive performances down in Orlando during the opening session of the Nike EYBL circuit for the NJ Scholars. Now, he’s planning to take an official visit to Lexington sometime this summer.

During the second session of the Nike EYBL circuit in Indianapolis — which began on Friday and runs throughout the rest of the weekend — Bradshaw spoke with KSR about his recruitment. The class of 2023 center said on Friday that he has plans for three visits this summer: Kentucky, Maryland, and a third school yet to be named. No dates have been set as of the time this article went live.

Kentucky is clearly high on Bradshaw’s shortlist of preferred programs, along with a handful of others. He specifically mentioned Kansas, UConn, Maryland, and Auburn, along with UK, as schools after him the hardest.

Heading into this AAU season, Bradshaw was most well-known for his connection with fellow Kentucky target, DJ Wagner. The pair have been playing together for years at the high school level with Camden (NJ) as well as AAU with the NJ Scholars. But over the last couple of weeks, Bradshaw has been separating himself as his own special talent.

Through six games with the NJ Scholars (6-0), Bradshaw is averaging 13 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks while shooting 68 percent from the floor (32-47) and 88 percent from the free-throw line (14-16). He’s working on expanding his range, although he’s 0-2 from 3-point range so far. But either way, Bradshaw should no longer be viewed as a “package deal” player with Wagner — he’s good enough to carve out his own path to a high-major school like Kentucky.

Bradshaw’s relationship with UK is being built through assistant coaches Chin Coleman and Orlando Antigua. During KSR’s brief interview with Bradshaw on Friday, Coleman happened to walk by us, giving Bradshaw a little nudge and a smile before continuing on his way.

“Man that is a crazy dude, that is a really crazy dude,” Bradshaw said of Coleman. “But that’s one person I appreciate. Because he’s gonna tell me what’s real. He’s not gonna lie to me… He’s gonna keep it real with you.”

Bradshaw has long held offers from the likes of LSU, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Kansas State, DePaul, and plenty of other Divison I schools. But an opportunity to play at Kentucky hit him differently than the rest.

“I ain’t gonna lie, I started crying because when you work for something and you actually get it, it’s a surreal feeling,’ Bradshaw told On3’s Joe Tipton on Saturday in regards to earning an offer from UK.

Bradshaw admitted he still has much to improve upon, mainly his strength and bulking up his frame. The outside shot still needs work too, but that’s something he’s keenly aware of and is actively working on adding to his arsenal. He’s already efficient around the rim and an impressive rim protector.

Kentucky must like what they’ve seen though. UK had had multiple coaches watch both of his games so far this weekend in Indianapolis. Expect the third game on Saturday night to be the same deal.