Kentucky Basketball Recruiting: Coach Cal Adds Familiar Prototypes to 2015 Class

Kentucky coach John Calipari has a pretty good idea of what he's looking for when he goes out on the recruiting trail each year prowling for his next batch of superstars. In case he needs a reminder, he can just revisit old programs from the Wildcats to his previous college gigs at Massachusetts and Memphis.

Calipari landed commitments from two more big-time prospects on Thursday, getting pledges from point guard Isaiah Briscoe and center Skal Labissiere. Both players are ranked among the top 10 recruits in the Class of 2015, according to 247Sports, and bump the Wildcats' class up to second nationally behind Arizona.

The Wildcats previously held a commitment from Charles Matthews, a 4-star shooting guard from Chicago who chose them in February.

Thursday's additions follow a pair of formulas that Calipari has used for quite some time: instant contributors who already have NBA potential and guys who fit into a mold that has already produced results.

In other words, the pro talent that Calipari has previously developed in college serve as prototypes for what he looks for in future stars, and both Briscoe and Labissiere have striking similarities to past Coach Cal products.

Briscoe, at 6'3.5", has an extraordinary body for a point guard, much like ex-Kentucky floor general John Wall (6'4") and former Memphis guard Derrick Rose (6'3"). Labissiere, at 6'10" and 200 pounds, is very similar in stature to former Kentucky big men Anthony Davis (6'10") and Nerlens Noel (6'11") as well as Calipari's first superstar in college, ex-UMass great Marcus Camby (6'11").

The New Jersey-based Briscoe cited Calipari's knack for producing pro talent at the point, saying on ESPNU's Recruiting Nation he "has a machine going on with getting point guards to the NBA, like Eric Bledsoe and Derrick Rose. I could see myself in that mold and being the next great point guard to come out of Kentucky."

Briscoe, a converted shooting guard, still loves to score, which is no different than Wall, Bledsoe or Rose. Each of them was a double-digit scorer in his lone college season, with Bledsoe and Wall doing so on the same Kentucky team in 2009-10.

"I know that Isaiah Briscoe wants to play with the ball in his hands," Evan Daniels of Scout.com told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

This knack for putting a team on his back could be seen in 2012-13 as he led Roselle Catholic to a state championship in New Jersey as well as helped his travel team to the Peach Jam title this past summer. He was as comfortable scoring on drives to the basket as he was pulling up from outside, another similarity to his predecessors.

Labissiere, originally from Haiti but currently living in Memphis, has "all the tools you look for in a young big man," according to Daniels. "He clearly has the height, but also the mobility, athleticism, scoring touch and ability to play facing the rim or with his back to it. On top of that, defensively he has potential. He has good timing and with his length is able to get to shots."

That last part is most important for Labissiere, at least initially. He's lighter than Camby, Davis or Noel but has comparable shot-blocking ability, something that made all of those undersized centers such dominant forces on the defensive end. The strength might not be there, but the athleticism is and will enable him to contend with bigger ball-handlers.

While he works on building strength, Labissiere will be able to fall back on a shooting range that pro scouts must love. His ability to stretch the defense in that way differs from his predecessors but may set a precedent for another model that Calipari can reference in assessing future big men.

Calipari spent four years coaching in the NBA, three as head coach of the New Jersey Nets and another as an assistant with Philadelphia. Though his tenure wasn't very successful, it was long enough to give him an understanding of what pro teams are looking for in college prospects, and since returning to Division I at Memphis in 2000, he's made it a point to construct an amateur roster that closely resembles an NBA lineup.

Those worlds intermingle on a regular basis, and Calipari brought them together for a scouting combine in October. NBA scouts were on hand to watch his current players during what also served as a great recruiting pitch for future prospects, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

"The event is a chance for Calipari to impress a throng of top high school recruits on campus visits and once again frame his program as college basketball's best NBA feeder system," Wojnarowski wrote in September.

Briscoe and Labissiere figure to find themselves in a situation similar to Kentucky's current crop of freshmen assuming they actually end up in Lexington. According to Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal, Briscoe told ESPNU he won't sign his national letter of intent until the spring, while Labissiere has indicated skipping college and playing overseas is an option. CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish reported Wednesday that the NCAA plans to closely investigate Labissiere's recruitment.

Guards Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis and frontcourt players Karl-Anthony Towns and Trey Lyles all have more experienced players ahead of them, yet with Calipari's plan to implement a platoon system, they'll all get decent playing time. Seven Wildcats on the 2014-15 roster are projected to be drafted, according to NBADraft.net, but Kentucky ended up having players who seemed destined to leave school stick around after last season.

Whatever roles Briscoe and Labissiere have at Kentucky, it's no stretch to assume they'll be ones that fall in line with how Calipari used his past NBA stars.

Recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.