Entries Tagged 'Recruiting' ↓

Michael Gilchrist, the No. 1 prospect in the high school class of 2011, plans to attend Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness celebration Friday night.

His mother, Cynthia Richardson, confirmed her son’s plans with an e-mail message on Wednesday.

Gilchrist is a 6-7 wing from Elizabeth, N.J.

Another prospect expected to attend UK’s Madness is forward C.J. Leslie, a senior at Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, N.C.

The Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer reported that forward C.J. Leslie, a former high school teammate of Kentucky freshman John Wall, plans to attend UK’s Big Blue Madness on Friday.

Leslie, rated No. 12 among senior prospects by Scout.com, attends Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh.

Leslie told the Raleigh newspaper that he was wide open in deciding a college. Among the schools that visited his home were UK, Florida, Maryland, Oregon, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, N.C. State and Florida International.

Leslie had earlier committed to N.C. State. He re-opened the recruiting process in March.

Marquis Teague, one of the highest rated players in the high school class of 2011, considered attending Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness next weekend.

But because UK will stage its Madness on Friday, a day his father must work, Teague will not make it.

“It would be very difficult to me to get him there,” said the player’s father, Shawn Teague. “We were talking about doing it. But it doesn’t work out.”

Teague, whose older brother Jeff starred at Wake Forest, is generally rated among the top five players in the high school junior class.  He plays for Pike High in Indianapolis.

He has narrowed his list to Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wake Forest and Kentucky.

His father, who played for Rick Pitino at Boston U, said Marquis hoped to attend games to watch those teams play this coming season before making a decision.

Among the prospects expected to attend UK’s Big Blue Madness is Quincy Miller, according to the recruiting service Rivals.com. Miller is a 6-7 forward from Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wing prospect Stacey Poole, Jr., plans to announce his college choice Thursday afternoon on ESPNU’s Recruiting Insider show. The show airs at 5:30 p.m. EDT.

Poole, a 6-foot-4 perimeter player from Jacksonville, Fla., is the son of Stacey Poole, Sr., who played for Florida in the early 1990s. The younger Poole is expected to choose either Kentucky or South Carolina.

All indications suggested that Stacey Poole, Jr., a top 50 prospect in the high school class of 2010, would commit to Kentucky on Wednesday.

“He’s about to commit,” his father, Stacey Poole, Sr., said early Wednesday afternoon. “. . . Everything will be official by the end of the day.”

However, by the end of the day, a commitment had not been announced. The elder Poole said he planned to “sit down and finalize things” with his son Wednesday evening. “Make sure I know where his head is at and why he wants to do” what he wants to do.

Later Wednesday night, the elder Poole noted that no decision could be confirmed. He noted how his son faced a “big life-changing” decision.

The younger Poole, a 6-foot-4 wing from Jacksonville, Fla., is a consensus top 50 national prospect. He’s reportedly narrowed his list to Kentucky or South Carolina. He visited UK last weekend.

The player’s father played for Florida, where he arrived in 1989 as a McDonald’s All-American. Injuries cut short his career.

Recruiting analysts see the younger Poole as a similar player to his father — that is to say, a driver and a scorer around the basket. That makes him seem well suited for the attack-the-basket style being brought to UK by new coach John Calipari.

Evan Daniels of the Scout.com recruiting service noted that Poole will need to improve his perimeter shooting.

The recruiting service Scout.com is reporting that Chane Behanan will be visiting Kentucky this weekend of the football game against Louisville.

Behanan, a 6-7 power forward, transferred to Bowling Green High School this year. He will be a junior this coming season. He played for Cincinnati Aiken High last season.

Scout.com rates Behanan among the nation’s top 100 players in the high school class of 2011.

Two highly regarded high school seniors from Florida are expected to make official visits to UK this weekend. The two are guard Brandon Knight and wing Stacey Poole. Knight is a consensus top five national player. Poole is regarded as a top 50 prospect.

UK basketball coaches were expected to visit with guard Doron Lamb on Thursday. Lamb plays for high school powerhouse Oak Hill Academy of Mouth of Wilson, Va.

Lamb considers Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma as the top three schools on his list, Oak Hill Coach Steve Smith said. Going into Thursday, Lamb had not yet set a visit to UK.

Lamb, a native of New York, also plans to visit Arizona and Connecticut.

In case you missed it, two top 50 prospects are scheduled to make official visits to Kentucky during the upcoming UK-U of L football weekend.

The two are guard Brandon Knight and wing Stacey Poole, Jr.

Analyst Evan Daniels of the Scout.com recruiting service, has reported the official visits this weekend. Daniels said that Knight, who is from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is rated as the nation’s top point guard in the high school class of 2010 by Scout.com.

Poole, whose father played for Florida, is from Jacksonville, Fla. Scout.com rates him in the top 50.

Knight is generallly considered among the nation’s top five overall prospects. There is talk that he has reservations about following Kenny Boynton, now a college freshman, to Florida.

Miami is supposedly trying to sell him on the idea of being a marquee player for the Hurricanes.

As for Poole, injuries (two torn Achilles and a torn ACL) ruined what seemed like a promising career when he arrived at Florida in 1989.

His son is about the same size (6-4). The younger Poole is billed as more a penetrator rather than a perimeter shooter, which suggests that he’d be a better fit for UK than Florida.

Eloy Vargas, a big man who played sparingly for Florida as a freshman last season, tweeted Friday that he would be making a recruiting visit to Kentucky this weekend.

Recruiting analyst Evan Daniels of Scout.com first noted the tweet on his website.

“Will be taking a visit to Kentucky Wildcats this weekend,” Vargas tweeted.

Vargas, a native of the Dominican Republic, averaged only 0.6 points and 0.7 rebounds as a freshman for Florida. An ankle injury limited him to nine games.

The Gainesville Sun has reported that Vargas had academic problems that might jeopardize his eligibility.

“I’m not at liberty to say much at all about him right now,” Florida Coach Billy Donovan told the Gainesville Sun recently. “But I think there might be a time I can come out and say something.”

Scouthoop.com rated Vargas at No. 33 in the high school class of 2008.

Meanwhile, Daniels reported that Marquis Teague, a top 10 prospect in the high school class of 2011, would be visiting UK on Saturday. Teague, who is from Indianapolis, is the younger brother of former Wake Forest standout Jeff Teague.

Earlier this summer, Teague listed Louisville, Illinois, Wake Forest, Ohio State and Purdue as his top five choices. But he said he would put Kentucky in his top five if UK offered a scholarship.

Thanks to the coaching change from Billy Gillispie to John Calipari, former UK recruit Dakotah Euton is going through the recruiting process for a second time.

His father, Clay, sent an e-mail update on Dakotah’s situation on Tuesday.

Here’s the update:

The elder Euton said that his son had received scholarship offers from Eastern Kentucky, Oregon State, Nevada, Wofford, Coastal Carolina, UNC-Greensboro, High Point, Murray State, Akron, East Tennessee State and Morehead State.

Dakotah planned to visit five schools in September and October, then make a decision in November, Clay Euton said.

Dakotah Euton committed to UK in Gillispie’s first year as coach. He played for Scott County last season and will be a senior this coming school year.