Kentucky Basketball: Wildcat Recruiting Watchers Need Patience for 2015 Class

Every Kentucky basketball fan is very proud—and justifiably so—of the fact that their Wildcats will be suiting up a record-tying nine former McDonald's All-Americans, as well as a 10th player who's an expected NBA draft lottery pick.

At the same time, players are sailing off the class of 2015 recruiting board daily, and none of them are elite prospects committing to Kentucky. This can cause no small worry to the casual observer, although few will admit to it.

The intelligent fan, however, knows that these two developments are intimately related, and will smile at the angst they're causing on other campuses. The knowledgeable recruiting watcher has patience. The rest of Big Blue Nation needs it.

Keeping Up With the Joneses?

Arch-rival Louisville was in the running for the mythical recruiting championship once Florida shooting guard Antonio Blakeney committed to become a Cardinal. Mere weeks later, Blakeney threw his recruitment open again under murky circumstances, but the Cards still have a very solid crew coming in and a scholarship to give.

Along with Louisville, UK's SEC rivals Auburn and Florida stand among the current top 10 on 247 Sports' team rankings, with Tigers fans especially excited about new coach Bruce Pearl's early recruiting roll.

Meanwhile, Wildcat coach John Calipari started September as a road warrior, taking visits to several of the truly big fish in next season's pond.

See, therein lies the rub. When we examine 247's player rankings, 28 of the top 50 and 67 of the top 100 have already made verbal commitments. Of the top 18, however, 13 are still undecided. Of those 13, how many have trimmed their list and left UK out of the mix?

One—Milwaukee big man Diamond Stone.

That leaves 12 of the nation's top high school players simply playing the waiting game. And a waiting game is all it is.

Player	Pos.	Hometown	Rank
Jaylen Brown	SF	Marietta, GA	2
Malik Newman	SG	Jackson, MS	3
Cheick Diallo	PF	Centereach, NY	4
Ivan Rabb	PF	Oakland, CA	6
Skal Labissiere	C	Memphis, TN	7
Isaiah Briscoe	PG	Roselle, NJ	9
Henry Ellenson	PF	Rice Lake, WI	10
Caleb Swanigan	C	Fort Wayne, IN	12
Stephen Zimmerman	C	Las Vegas, NV	15
Carlton Bragg	PF	Cleveland, OH	16
Antonio Blakeney	SG	Orlando, FL	17
Brandon Ingram	SF	Kinston, NC	18

No Room at the Inn?

With Kentucky's absurd array of talent, particularly in the frontcourt, no one knows who's leaving for a professional career seven months from now. Of those 12 elite players still considering UK, seven are forwards or centers.

A couple of weeks ago, I surveyed UK's top recruiting targets and how confident the BBN should be about landing each.

Of the bunch, only one has expressly indicated any sort of timetable for a decision, that being Kinston, N.C., wing Brandon Ingram. SNY.tv contributor Joseph Duruaku reported that Ingram plans to announce his choice this fall. Of course, the best-laid plans of mice, men and elite teenage basketball players...

Once considered a mortal lock for North Carolina in the 247 Sports Crystal Ball, the analysts now favor Duke above UNC for Ingram's signature, and no other school is even in the picture.

This leaves top prospects like Cheick Diallo, Ivan Rabb, Jaylen Brown, Carlton Bragg or Stephen Zimmerman gauging who'll have a spot. Kentucky could have anywhere from six frontcourt openings to—dare I say it—none. Hey, don't scoff, it could happen.

Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images

The latter scenario would be doomsday for those who've become addicted to bright, shiny new prospects arriving every season. And truthfully, the Chicken Littles would have a point there. If, after all of the hype, all of the big Cats play poorly enough to fall out of the NBA draft's first round, something has gone drastically wrong.

No matter how UK's season unfolds, give the 2015 recruits credit. Assuming that a particular number of Wildcats won't be back next season can easily backfire. If no one left—frontcourt or back—there wouldn't even be room for the lone current Cat commit, Chicago guard Charles Matthews.

We're 99.9 percent sure someone's playing himself into the NBA lottery, so the doomsday scenario isn't really even worth entertaining.

Sorry I brought it up.

Still, these new prospects are smart enough to cover themselves against even the most unlikely occurrences.

So when national signing day (Nov. 12, in case it's not already circled in bright blue ink on your calendar) comes and goes and all remains quiet on the Kentucky front, don't panic.

Just wait. Something big is still very likely to go down, even if it doesn't happen until late April.

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