Dereck Lively II, Adem Bona explain why they turned down Kentucky

At various points, five-star centers Dereck Lively II and Adem Bona were at the top of Kentucky’s recruiting board in the class of 2022. With UK putting the full-court press on both — first Lively, then Bona, with a brief overlap where the Wildcats flirted with the idea of bringing them in together — mutual interest was significant.

In fact, Kentucky was one of two remaining finalists for both prospects.

For Lively, it “definitely did” come down to Duke and Kentucky during the home stretch of his recruitment. As for Bona, he chose between UCLA and Kentucky.

In both instances, the five-star center prospects committed to the other school, with Lively ultimately signing with Duke and Bona signing with UCLA. Two top-10 recruits and top-rated centers in the final On3 Consensus, neither choosing to become a Wildcat.

Why, especially considering Kentucky has a clear need in the frontcourt for next season? Well, it wasn’t easy for either player.

“It was a really hard decision,” Lively told KSR at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, MA earlier this month. “Both schools had everything I was looking for.”

“It was one of the toughest decisions of my life,” Bona added. “And it’s probably still going to be one of the toughest for a while.”

It was a sequence of events that left Kentucky with a bare cupboard to explore in the senior class. The Wildcats explored the possibility of adding five-star center Yohan Traore in December, but never pulled the trigger on an offer after coming away unimpressed during a brief evaluation. UK moved on and Traore ultimately committed to LSU.

Now, Kentucky is set to explore frontcourt options in the transfer portal this offseason or wait to see if a reclass opportunity presents itself from the class of 2023 in the coming months.

What was it that put the Blue Devils and Bruins ahead for Lively and Bona, respectively? For the former, it was his relationship with Duke head coach Jon Scheyer and the vision he had for Lively.

“Being able to grow the relationship between me and Coach (Jon) Scheyer, it solidified it,” Lively told KSR. “That relationship between me, Coach Scheyer and my mother, that’s something I was really looking forward to.

“… I’d probably say me looking at my longevity, further in my career. Being able to see which is going to develop me in which type of way, I think I made the right decision.”

For Bona, he knew he couldn’t go wrong with either choice, a message made clear when talking things over with his family. When it came time for a final decision, he simply went with his heart.

“Picking between both great schools was a tough choice,” he told KSR. “At that point, I had to go with my heart and the one my family felt was right for me. I make decisions with my family. It’s not just me, I represent my family. Not just myself. I carry the name of my family.

“I made the decision with my mom back in Turkey, my siblings back in Nigeria, we all talked about it and prayed over it. We went with what our heart told us.”

There wasn’t one individual factor that put UCLA over the top down the home stretch of his recruitment. Instead, it was just a gut feeling after taking visits to both schools and meeting the coaches in person.

“It’s a tough choice. It wasn’t something clear-cut that put one school ahead of the other,” Bona told KSR. “Great school (in Kentucky), a chance to get coached by one of the greatest coaches in college history in John Calipari. Or a chance to play at UCLA, play for Mick Cronin, who is a really good man. I watched practice, and he has a lot of energy like me. I love energy, you know? That’s what gets me going. I play with energy all the time.

“It was a tough choice for me, but I had to pick one. That’s what my mom told me, ‘You can never go wrong with any choice. You just have to pick one.’ So I just picked one.”

Rather than suiting up for Kentucky, Lively will be playing for one of the program’s greatest rivals in Duke. And while the two schools won’t be playing each other in next season’s Champions Classic — Kentucky will play Michigan State while Duke takes on Kansas — Lively is already embracing the rivalry.

“Being able to have that rivalry and being able to push each other, that’s something I’m really looking forward to,” he told KSR. “I know whenever we step on the court, we’re going to be at each other’s necks.”

Maybe in the NCAA Tournament? One can only hope.