Insider Notes: UK hits the road for recruiting

[caption id="attachment_247110" align="alignnone" width="1140"] Photo via Endless Motor[/caption] Happy Monday, folks! I hope you all had a good weekend despite the frustrating loss. There's no spinning Saturday's game, but the good news is UK watched a handful of targets over the weekend and has picked up the intensity in a few recruitments. Here are the notes. (photo by Adam Zagoria)

Jaden McDaniels:

John Calipari and Kenny Payne were front and center to watch five-star Jaden McDaniels. I don't have anything new from the kid or anyone close to McDaniels. He's a quiet kid and things are probably going to be mostly quiet until he commits. But that doesn't stop other folks from talking. I know that UK feels like they're "closing in" on McDaniels. It's not unusual for folks close to UK's staff to feel confident about a recruit (if you've followed along long enough you know they generally feel like they have a chance in every recruitment) but things may be aligning for McDaniels:

• Location doesn't seem to be an issue. He has said it. Folks that know his recruitment say it won't be a factor. I've always thought if McDaniels doesn't pick UK it will be because of location, but no one seems overly concerned about that as of today.
• McDaniels wants to get to the NBA ASAP and no school on his list does it better than UK. The Cats aren't fighting Duke or Kansas in this recruitment. They have a track record that UCLA, Texas, Washington and San Diego State can't match.
• Cal has been more active and persistent in this recruitment than any other coach over the last several months. This should get you excited. We haven't always heard a lot about it because things are so quiet with McDaniels, but Calipari has basically been the lead guy in this recruitment for months. Kenny Payne has been there, too. When those two guys are spending months recruiting you/building a relationship it helps the Cats' position. Calipari certainly doesn't need recruiting advice from me, but I have thought in some recruitments he showed up a little too late. Sure, assistants were there months prior, but he may take things over a little late in the game. That's not the case for McDaniels.

I still think UK lands McDaniels but it's an educated guess. He has said he will wait until the spring, so I guess we'll take him for his word regarding a timeline.

La Lumiere:

Calipari watched Isaiah Stewart and Keion Brooks of La Lumiere on Saturday and things remain intriguing in both recruitments.

Stewart:

Wouldn't it be a great surprise if Stewart shocked virtually everyone and picked UK? The Cats once had momentum in this recruitment but that hasn't been the case for months. There have now been three (by my count) times UK has reached back out after things seemed to cool. I've heard that Stewart and his immediate family like UK, maybe even the family more than the kid. Those outside the family aren't as high on UK because they hadn't been recruiting him as long as the other schools. At least that's what I'm told. Every time UK has reached back out or made contact it's been trying to pitch to the family and to the kid. I'm unsure how those pitches have gone or how receptive the family is to UK, but the fact there isn't much buzz tells me it may be too big of a hurdle to overcome. Never say never, but I don't see it happening and I hope I'm wrong because Stewart would ease any frontcourt concerns for next season just like that. I think he'll land at MSU.

Brooks:

Nothing new on Brooks. He finished with 22 points and nine rebounds in a win with UK watching. I still believe UK is running second but Kentucky's staff has spent a lot of time building a relationship with Brooks' family and I wouldn't be shocked if he picked the Cats. Someone that covers IU to me there's a lot of pressure for Brooks to pick Indiana. He's the missing piece, he hears about IU everyday and they keep driving home the idea of representing his state in college. The sense is that will be too much to pass up. Again, I wouldn't be shocked if UK upset the Hoosiers for Brooks (it's not impossible), but no reason to jump off my IU prediction at this point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9vWfSwn5zg&feature=youtu.be

Matthew Hurt:

He had a huge game over the weekend in a losing effort (highlights above). I don't have anything new regarding his recruitment but he's fun to watch and could be a major difference maker for the Cats next season. The plan is for him to checkout UNC this weekend (where he's being told he can play like Luke Maye, how exciting) and then there's a tentative Duke visit set for the UVA game in January. It's unclear when/if he will checkout Kansas or Memphis for official visits. I had Jake Weingarten on my podcast this week and he thinks it could come down to UK or Memphis for Hurt. Click HERE to listen. I'm not as high on Memphis on this recruitment but it seems like most experts think the Cats are right there at or near the top.

Anthony Edwards:

Joel Justus watched Edwards over the weekend as he finished with 27 points and 12 rebounds in a loss. Edwards has officially visited UGA and said FSU, Duke, Kansas and Michigan State will also receive official visits. So, that means as of today UK's not landing an official, and I can't say I'm surprised. I don't think UK lands Edwards and the fact he's not planning an official isn't' going to change my mind. UK hopes and thinks they will be able to get him on campus for an unofficial visit in January, but I think it's somewhat telling that he mentioned those other schools for official visits. It's an Occam's razor situation in my opinion.  

2020 guys:

Joel Justus watched plenty of young talent this weekend. Here's a list of guys I've confirmed UK watched: Jalen Johnson- There were reports that UK missed Johnson. Not the case. They watched him yesterday. One of the best scorers in high school basketball he's going to be one of UK's top 2020 targets. N'Faly Dante- It's a name I've been throwing around for nearly a year and over the last few months the Cats have really been going after him. From a body/talent standpoint he's one of maybe two 2020 guys that I think could make the 2019 jump and be successful. No indication that he's planning on doing that, but UK does need frontcourt players for next season. Assuming he stays 2020 he will be UK's big frontcourt recruit for that class. Cade Cunningham- His name has been thrown around and UK watched him, but as of right now he doesn't appear to be a serious Kentucky target. The Cats will continue to watch him as they like his game, but just need to see more of him. Versatile player that's well coached. My guess is he ends up with an offer at some point, but just a guess as UK still wants to see more. Hunter Dickinson- Here's a player that I've really liked since watching him go toe-to-toe with Wiseman and Carey over the summer. Talent wise he's not going to blow you away with his moves or jumper, but he plays incredibly hard and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He'll be a fun piece for whoever lands him and should be a two year college player. UK's interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjytO9Bv6YQ There were obviously several other players that played in games UK watched this weekend, but I think those were the bulk of the players Kentucky was really intrigued in seeing. UK's doing a really nice job getting out and seeing a lot of these 2020 kids and I'm guessing that cycle goes better for UK (although the 2019 class could still be really good).

Some news:

This will be my last Monday Insider Notes as it's my last week at KSR. Covering UK recruiting for the last six years has been a blast and talking with you all about the future of Kentucky basketball here at KSR for the last 8/9 months was the best part of the gig. Two years ago I started taking real estate appraising classes. It started off just about 2-4 hours a day for the first year but now it's about eight hours daily and a full-time job. It's a long process but I'm eligible to become certified early in 2019. There's sadly just not enough time in the day for me to work towards that goal while also being full-time at KSR. I told Matt when I accepted the position that I was doing appraising on the side and I would be eligible to be certified in 2019.  In October I notified him that I was still planning on making the transition and he has been nothing but great and helpful throughout the process. Everyone at KSR has been amazing. But the readers deserve someone that can keep an eye on recruiting 247 while traveling to the best events throughout the year and sadly I won't have the time, but KSR has a great plan in place and I'm confident that the recruiting news will only continue to improve. I'll still be doing radio and will follow UK recruiting, so I look forward to continued discussions. Heck, find me in the KSR comment section. I'll be here working away the rest of the week before saying a final goodbye, but thanks for reading. [mobile_ad]