Kentucky makes the cut for 5-star guard Alijah Arenas

Kentucky missed out on Caleb Wilson last week, but the Wildcats remain in the mix for another talented five-star high school prospect.

6-foot-5 shooting guard Alijah Arenas is down to five finalists, he announced Monday on his father’s podcast, Gil’s Arena. Kentucky, Louisville, Southern California, Kansas, and Arizona all made the cut for the nation’s 13th-ranked high school senior.

Originally from the class of 2026, Arenas reclassified to 2025 in December. He is the son of three-time NBA All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas, who played his college basketball at Arizona.

5⭐️ Alijah Arenas, On3's No. 10 overall recruit in the 2025 class, is down to five schools, per his father's podcast:

Kentucky
Louisville
USC
Kansas
Arizonahttps://t.co/1t11VKqJpT pic.twitter.com/1qIwRYdKSh

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) January 27, 2025

Kentucky extended an offer to Arenas less than a week before his move from 2026 to 2025. Head coach Mark Pope has already secured commitments in the 2025 cycle from a trio of Top 35 recruits: Jasper Johnson, Acaden Lewis, and Malachi Moreno. Both Arenas and Moreno were named McDonald’s All-Americans on Monday.

With Wilson committing to North Carolina, Kentucky has turned its attention in 2025 to Arenas and five-star wing Nate Ament. UK cracked the Top 11 for Ament earlier this month and he has intentions of visiting Lexington before making a decision. Arenas told 247Sports in early January that Arizona, Kentucky, and USC have been the schools he’s hearing from the most.

Arizona and Louisville make sense as two of the teams among Arenas’ top five. His father was a two-year star at Arizona from 1999-01 before making the jump to the NBA. With the Cardinals, his older sister, Izela Arenas, is currently a freshman on the women’s basketball team. Arenas has yet to go on a wide-ranging visit tour. His only unofficial visit since the fall was to Arizona.

Alijah is one of the nation’s most prolific scoring guards in the country, currently averaging 31.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game for Chatsworth (CA) midway through his now-senior season. Last month, he set the tournament single-game scoring record at The Classic at Damien, a high-profile tournament in California, by dropping 56 points.