Entries from July 2011 ↓

L.J. Rose, a point guard prospect from Houston, acknowledged that Ryan Harrow’s transfer to Kentucky from North Carolina State had an impact on his decision to scratch UK from his list.

Or perhaps UK scratched Rose.

“We just kind of lost connection,” the player said Friday at the LeBron James Skills Academy. “We just go from there.”

Rose said UCLA and Texas were his favorites. He’s also considering Kansas, Memphis, Virginia, Georgetown and Baylor.

Dakari Johnson, a 6-11 center from New York, is one of eight players at the LeBron James Skills Academy who just finished his freshman year of high school this spring.

Despite that tender age, it’s apparently never too early to begin a recruiting effort. Johnson said he’s already heard from such schools as Kentucky, Syracuse, Xavier, Georgetown, Ohio State, Villanova and St. John’s.

Johnson averaged about 10 points and nine rebounds playing alongside UK freshman-to-be Michael Gilchrist at St. Patrick’s, a high school powerhouse in Elizabeth, N.J.

“He really pushed me,” Johnson said of Gilchrist. “We’d talk smack to each other.”

When asked which player got the best of the friendly practice competitions, Johnson said, “He got the better of me. I went at him a couple times. But when he got it going, I couldn’t stop him.”

Yes, Gilchrist has lobbied on UK’s behalf.

“He’ll joke around (saying) ‘You’re a Wildcat,’ ” Johnson said. “He’s my brother. I listen. But he won’t persuade me.”

For a player who’ll be a sophomore next season, a college choice is some far off decision.

“I’m not going to pay attention until my junior or senior year,” Johnson said.

Now rated as the best point guard  in the class of 2012, Rodney Purvis figured to likely be the latest in a long line of standout floor leaders to play for John Calipari.

That Purvis is also close to fellow Raleigh, N.C., product John Wall made a commitment to Kentucky seem a mere formality.

Then Kentucky accepted point guard Ryan Harrow as a point guard transfer from North Carolina State earlier this year.

“That kind of did it,” Purvis said Friday at the LeBron James Skills Academy.

Purvis did not speak in anger. A bright smile returned to his face frequently in the conversation. He noted that UK assistant coach Orlando Antigua notified his family when the Cats accepted Harrow.

“He said if anything changed, they’d recruit me again.” Purvis said.

When asked his reaction to Kentucky taking Harrow, Purvis said in a soft voice, “It’s never good when somebody feels they’ve got what they need and don’t need you. . . . I’ll recover from it.”

With N.C. State in Raleigh, Purvis was familiar with Harrow.

“We’re kind of the same, but I think he shoots it a little better than I do,” a generous Purvis said. “With speed, we’re about the same. I feel I’m much stronger.”

Purvis has narrowed his college choices to Duke, Missouri and N.C. State. The hiring former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried had a “huge impact” in N.C. State getting involved, Purvis said.

Besides Kentucky, Memphis and Louisville exited from Purvis’ options.

As for Wall, the former UK All-American is too close a friend to try to pressure Purvis to consider Kentucky, the player said.

“He’s like my brother,” Purvis said.

The two talk every other day or so, Purvis said. But they don’t talk about Kentucky as a destination for Purvis, and don’t figure to ever do so.

Jabari Parker, one of the highest-rated players in the high school class of 2013, has his list of college choices narrowed to five. Then again, he really doesn’t.

“I never cut the list down,” Parker said on Friday at the LeBron James Skills Academy. “I had a top five because the websites ask for it.”

Fact or fiction, Parker had said his top five were Kansas, Duke, Illinois, Michigan State and Washington.

Various recruiting websites are ‘really big” on narrowing lists to a select group of schools, Parker noted. “They were, like, forcing me,” he added with a smile. “It wouldn’t look good for them if I didn’t have (a top five).”

When asked what schools could expand the top five that really isn’t, Parker mentioned Ohio State.

Parker, a 6-8 player from Chicago, is ranked No. 2 in the class of 2013 by Hoop Scoop and No. 4 by Rivals. His father, Sonny Parker, played for Texas A&M and later the Golden State Warriors.

Danuel House attributes the unusual spelling of his first name to his mother. “She wanted to go about it in a different way,” he said. “She wanted to be unique.”

Fittingly, House’s recruitment is unusual, if not unique. A few weeks ago, he’d heard from Texas Christian, Jacksonville and Houston.

Speaking at the LeBron James Skills Academy Friday, he mentioned Arizona, Texas, Baylor, California, Colorado, Missouri and Louisville.

House, a 6-6 swing, said he’d also spoken to Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who told him to work hard.

His 15-year-old brother told House of a tweet he’d read about Kentucky’s possible interest.

“Next thing you know, I’m getting calls from big colleges,” House said with a smile.

House couldn’t explain his rising profile except to say he’d played hard and his teams had won.

Devonte Smith-Rivera is a big point guard who looks at Deron Williams as a role model. His combination of size (6-3 1/2 and 227 pounds) and skill makes Smith-Rivera talk about being a variation on the theme of talented point guards produced by Kentucky Coach John Calipari.

“They’ve had more quicker, faster guys,” he said of such Calipari point guards as Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall and Brandon Knight.

When a reporter noted that Eric Bledsoe was a muscular guard, Smith-Rivera smiled and said, “He’s one of the few.”

Smith-Rivera, a native of Indianapolis, said he aspires to be like Deron Williams, the big point guard star for Illinois in college and then the Utah Jazz/New Jersey Nets of the NBA.

Kentucky got in early on Smith-Rivera, expressing interest at the start of his sophomore year, he said. Since then, he’s heard from Ohio State, Xavier, Texas, Baylor, Georgetown, UCLA and Michigan State, among others, he said.

If prospect Austin Colbert has a motto, it’s Be Like Mike. That’s Mike Gilchrist, one of the highly-regarded freshman to be at Kentucky this coming season.

Colbert, a 6-9 junior-to-be, played with Gilchrist at St. Patrick’s High School in New Jersey last season. To hear him at the LeBron James Skills Academy Friday, Colbert considers Gilchrist an example to follow.

“He’s somebody I really look up to,” Colbert said. “He’s like a big brother.

“He’s taught me a lot. Like how to be a leader. Always keep your head up no matter what. Don’t let anybody see you down.”

Gilchrist also led by example, by simply playing hard, Colbert said.

The two stay in touch. It helps that Gilchrist is at the Skills Academy as a counselor.

When asked what Gilchrist says about the UK experience so far, Colbert said, “He says he loves it. How everybody is so warm and welcoming on campus.”

So far, Colbert’s recruitment does not include Kentucky. “Not yet,” he said. A 3.0 student, he said he’d heard from schools in the Big East, ACC, Big 10, Ivy League and SEC (Florida).

Julius Randle, the No. 1 player in the junior class of 2013, likes Kentucky. He wonders why anyone would not like Kentucky.

“He gets his players to the league and he wins,” Randle said of UK Coach John Calipari. “How do you not like that?”

At this early stage of recruiting, Randle said he had a long list of college options to consider.

Randle, a 6-9 forward from McKinney, Texas, said he had unofficially visited Kansas, Baylor and Oklahoma. Earlier in his high school career, he visited Texas, Kentucky and North Carolina, he said.

When Kentucky Coach John Calipari watches junior-to-be Nerlens Noel play, he apparently sees a  resemblance to former UMass star Marcus Camby.

Calipari has mentioned the Camby reference in the early recruitment of Noel, a 6-11 defensive specialist from Everett, Mass.

“It means a lot,” said Noel, who was a pre-schooler when Camby led UMass to the 1996 Final Four. “He’s a great defensive player. I’m honored to be compared to him.”

Noel, whom NBAdraft.net compares to former Alabama standout Antonio McDyess, is known as a defensive player. It’s a label he gladly accepts.

“I know defense is one thing people will sleep on,” he said at the LeBron James Skills Academy this week. “But defense wins championships.”

Ricardo Ledo, a top 10 prospect in the class of 2012, is unsure of how his recruitment will unfold. But he hopes one option is a must: a visit to Kentucky.

“I’m going to visit Kentucky for sure,” Ledo said Thursday at the LeBron James Skills Academy. “Other than that, I’m not sure.”

Ledo, a 6-7 wing from Providence, R.I., listed such college options as Connecticut, Providence, Texas, Syracuse, Arizona and Florida as well as UK.

“I’m in no rush,” he said. “If I feel a school fits me, that’s where I’ll go.”