Where Kentucky MBB signees stand in ESPN's final '23 rankings update

John Calipari is back to his old ways of bringing the nation’s top freshmen to Lexington. When you check out the class of 2023 basketball player rankings from any major outlet, future five-star Wildcats make up a bulk of the top prospects.

That remains the case with ESPN, which released its final player rankings update for the ’23 class on Wednesday morning. As you might have guessed, Kentucky’s five-man group is well-represented, with three of them finishing among the top six recruits in the country and all five cracking the top 25. Check out where they landed.

No. 3: Justin Edwards (SF)
No. 4: DJ Wagner (PG)
No. 6: Aaron Bradshaw (C)
No. 14: Robert Dillingham (SG)
No. 22: Reed Sheppard (SG)

Not a bad batch of incoming rookies, eh? ESPN’s basketball recruiting expert Paul Biancardi even shared some in-depth thoughts on Edwards and Wagner that you can read here.

The final 2023 ESPN 💯 player rankings per @PaulBiancardi 🏀 pic.twitter.com/deO4VAUd2E

— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) April 19, 2023

Edwards and Wagner have both previously been the No. 1 ranked recruit in this class by ESPN, but there’s a new top dog to close out this cycle. Point guard Isaiah Collier, who is committed to suiting up for Southern California, has taken control of the top spot while Texas power forward commit Ron Holland holds down the No. 2 position.

Also, Bronny James, the son of future Hall of Famer LeBron James, received a bump in his ranking, which has been a trend for the uncommitted guard over the last several weeks. Bronny is now considered the No. 19 overall prospect in the class by ESPN.

Taking a step back and looking at On3’s Industry Rankings, which take into account the rankings from On3, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN, all five Kentucky signees are still held in high regard. Edwards (No. 2), Wagner (No. 4), Bradshaw (No. 5), and Dillingham (No. 10) are considered five-star talents by all four services while Sheppard checks in at No. 38 overall as a four-star.