Kentucky Basketball Recruiting: Dakari Johnson Strongly Considering UK

The mother of five-star 2013 center high school prospect Dakari Johnson said in a recent interview with Adam Zagoria that Kentucky is a "major player" right now in her son's recruitment process.

One major factor she cited was the family's familiarity with the area; they lived in Lexington for three years and still have a large amount of friends and extended family there.

She also mentioned Coach John Calipari's track record of preparing players to enter the NBA: “One thing...is that they are preparing for the guys for that next stage. I wouldn’t see why that wouldn’t be appealing."

But even though Kentucky seemed to be the school that she spoke about the most favorably, it wasn't the only school to be mentioned (favorably or otherwise) by Mrs. Johnson, who clearly knows what she's talking about when it comes to basketball and recruiting.

She said that Kansas was also a favorite of hers for the way that they "run the ball through their bigs," and she also expressed concerns that Syracuse may have loaded up on too many big men already for her son to have a place there.

It stands to reason, however, that Syracuse would find a way to make a spot available if Johnson decided to commit to the Orangemen. ESPN.com currently has him ranked as the No. 1 center prospect in the country (12th overall) for the class of 2013. 

Dakari's mother also reiterated her son's plan to hold off on a commitment until the spring. The six schools he is currently considering are Kentucky, Florida, Georgetown, Syracuse, Kansas and Ohio State.

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