Tag: Kentucky recruiting

How Kentucky Football’s Recruiting Class Ranks Two Weeks Out Of National Signing Day

Kentucky’s 2025 recruiting class is ranked in the top 25 overall.

Mark Stoops and Kentucky football have built themselves quite the recruiting class for 2025.

Per On3’s Industry Recruiting Rankings, Kentucky has the 23rd ranked 2025 football recruiting class in the country.

This bodes well for the team, as Kentucky is just two weeks out of National Signing Day. The team could still pick up a few more recruits, which would add to a class that is already two slots above last year’s ranking (25th).

While the Wildcats don’t have a single 5-star recruit in On3’s system, they did have a handful of four-star prospects that boosted their ranking: runningback Marquise Davis, safety Martels Carter, cornerback Andrew Purcell, edge rusher Cedric Works, offensive tackle Darrin Strey, and defensive linemen Kalen Edwards and Javeon Campbell.

Related: Kentucky rolls past Murray State

While the ranking bodes well nationally, it does need to be put into perspective.

Kentucky is ranked 23rd overall in the country — but sits at just 12th out of 16 SEC teams. Only Florida (24th), Mississippi State (28th), Arkansas (31st), and Vanderbilt (64th) are behind them.

But that’s the danger of playing in the SEC. The Wildcats would rank 7th in the BIG 10, 4th in the ACC, and 2nd in the BIG 12, only trailing Nebraska (19th).

With two weeks to go until National Signing Day on December 4th, the Wildcats will have a chance to continue bolstering their recruiting class.

Kentucky gets a commitment from a five-star 2026 guard

Kentucky women’s basketball gets a commitment from 2026 guard Maddyn Greenway.

Less than a week ago, Kentucky women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks secured his first commitment for 2025 in forward Kaelyn Carroll. Now, Brooks has landed his first recruit from the 2026 class. Guard Maddyn Greenway will be a Wildcat.

Greenway is a 5’8″ point guard out of Minnesota, and is the daughter of long-time NFL linebacker Chad Greenway. She is currently ranked 18th overall in the 2026 class in the composite rankings from 247sports, and she’s rated five stars.

Related: Five things we learned from Kentucky’s win over Duke

A number of other very good programs had interest in Greenway, including the Duke Blue Devils, Clemson Tigers, and Iowa Hawkeyes. Her parents went to Iowa, but she told Kentucky Sports Radio that she wanted to go a different way:

I’ve been a Hawkeye fan my whole life, with both my parents having gone there. Obviously, with my dad, I’ve lived in Minnesota my whole life, and I’ve always been under his shadow, so I just wanted to make my own path.

It has been a good week for Brooks and Kentucky women’s basketball recruiting. Fans have reason be excited about the future.

Kentucky is getting a visit next weekend from a four star-recruit

Class of 2025 forward Samis Calderon will visit Kentucky basketball November 9th and 10th.

Recently, it was announced that 2025 small forward Samis Calderon would be taking a visit to Kentucky basketball some time in November. A visit has officially been set, and he will now be in Lexington November 9th and 10th, according to Kentucky Sports Radio.

Calderon is currently a member of Overtime Elite, along with Jasper Johnson, who is committed to the Wildcats. Coach Mark Pope has been in contact with him in recent weeks.

Related: Class of 2025 guard Acaden Lewis commits to Kentucky

Calderon is a 6’8″, 200 lb forward out of Georgia. He is currently unranked by 247sports, but they do have him rated four stars. He’s ranked as the number 35 small forward in the 2025 class.

Kentucky is one of several visits Calderon decided to take. He recently spent time with the Auburn Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers, and Michigan Wolverines. Kansas has also extended an offer.

There isn’t a set timeline for a decision, but he’s one of several 2025 targets that Pope is working on. Fans should continue to monitor the situation.

Kentucky coaches visited paid a visit to a top five 2025 recruit

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope visited top five recruit Nate Ament on Wednesday.

Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is hard at work on the 2025 recruiting class. With Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson already committed, he and his staff have targeted a number of other highly ranked prospects, and on Wednesday, paid a visit to one of them.

Nate Ament is a 6’9″, 185 lb power forward out of Virginia. He is a five-star recruit, and ranked as the number four overall player in the 2025 class by 247sports. He’s their number two ranked power forward.

Related: Kentucky makes final seven for Chris Cenac Jr

Travis Branham of 247sports reported that Pope and assistant Cody Fueger visited Ament on Wednesday. This was a day after John Calipari paid him a visit.

Kentucky has targeted multiple frontcourt prospects for 2025, including Ament along with Caleb Wilson and Chris Cenac Jr. Any of those three would be elite, and fit very well in Pope’s offense. Fans will want to continue to monitor their recruitment of all three.

Niko Bundalo cancels his Kentucky visit a day after scheduling it

Kentucky basketball target Niko Bundalo cancels his visit with the Wildcats.

On Monday, Kentucky basketball fans learned that class of 2025 recruit Niko Bundalo would be visiting Lexington later in October. Just one day later, it appears that the visit won’t be happening after all.

Travis Branham of 247sports posted on the social platform X that Bundalo was canceling his Kentucky visit and would not be re-scheduling it. No further explanation for the change was given at this time.

Related: Kentucky is in the ESPN preseason basketball top 25

On potential reason for the cancellation could be that coach Mark Pope and the Wildcats are in the driver’s seat for one of the other big men of the class. Both Caleb Wilson and Chris Cenac Jr are Kentucky targets, and highly rated players in the 2025 class.

Bundalo is a talented player, ranked as the number 31 overall player by 247sports. He would certainly be a nice fit in Pope’s system, and will be a solid player for whichever program winds up landing him.

Kentucky basketball will host a four-star forward in October

Class of 2025 forward Niko Bundalo will visit Kentucky basketball the weekend of October 18th.

Kentucky basketball and coach Mark Pope have hosted several recruits already. Top targets like Caleb Wilson, Chris Cenac Jr, and Mikel Brown Jr have already been to Lexington. More are coming up, including Niko Bundalo, who now has a visit scheduled.

Bundalo is set to visit the Wildcats the weekend of October 18th, according to a report from Kentucky Sports Radio. He has already visited Ohio State, North Carolina, and Connecticut among others.

Related: Jasper Johnson named to player at Wootten 150 camp

At 6’10” and 215 lbs, Bundalo brings a good mix of size and shooting touch. He’s rated four stars by 247sports, and is ranked as the number 31 player in the 2025 recruiting class. They have him as the number eight power forward.

Pope and his staff have worked hard since taking over the Kentucky program, and have already landed a couple of top recruits. They’re in the running for several more, including Bundalo, who put Kentucky in his final eight. Adding him to the roster would be another great addition.

Kentucky basketball is getting a visit from a four-star point guard

Class 2025 point guard Acaden Lewis will visit Kentucky basketball during Big Blue Madness.

Class of 2025 point guard Acaden Lewis has Kentucky basketball in his final three, along with Connecticut and the Duke Blue Devils. He previously visited those two schools, and now has told Kentucky Sports Radio that he will be visiting Kentucky soon as well.

The official visit from Lewis to Lexington will from October 11th through the 13th, including Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness. He will be one a few different prospects visiting at that time.

Related: Kentucky offers 2026 prospect Ikenna Alozie

Lewis is a 6’2″, 170 lb point guard out of Washington D.C. He is rated four stars, and is ranked as the number 32 overall prospect in the 2025 class by 247sports. He’s their number five ranked point guard.

With Malachi Moreno and Jasper Johnson already in the fold, adding a top ranked point guard would be a nice addition. Coach Mark Pope is building a solid class, and Lewis would be another huge get, if they can reel him in after his visit.

A former Kentucky recruiting target is available once again

Kentucky football has another chance at recruiting 2025 cornerback Dawayne Galloway.

Kentucky football has put together a solid recruiting class for 2025 so far. It’s currently ranked as the number 23 class in the country. One of the players they missed one, however, was cornerback Dawayne Galloway.

Galloway was heavily recruited by the Wildcats, and was even projected to choose Kentucky at one point. When the time came to commit, though, Galloway chose the Purdue Boilermakers instead, possibly because of other commitments at the position.

Related: Kentucky gets votes in US LBM Coaches Poll

Now, Galloway is available once again after he announced on the social platform X that he was decommitting from Purdue. He later told Kentucky Sports Radio that Kentucky was among the schools he had heard from since then.

Galloway is a 6’1″, 175 lb cornerback out of Ohio. He is currently ranked as the number 207 overall prospect in the 2025 class and rated four stars by 247sports. The Wildcats were very close to landing him before, so it will be something for fans to keep an eye on.

Kentucky basketball offers 2026 five-star guard Jordan Smith Jr.

Kentucky and coach Mark Pope are recruiting this highly touted 2026 shooting guard from Virginia.

Coach Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats basketball staff have offered Jordan Smith, the No. 7 overall player and No. 3 shooting guard in the 2026 recruiting class, according to both On3 Industry Rankings and 247Sports’ composite rankings.

“Blessed to receive an offer from the University of Kentucky,” the five-star recruit shared in a social media post to Instagram earlier this week.

In early July, Smith helped guide the USA Basketball U17 national team to the gold medal at the 2024 FIBA World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey.

Listed at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds out of Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax, Va., Smith has also received offers from Arkansas, Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina, two-time defending national champion UConn, Kansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Houston and others.

RELATED: Kentucky makes the final four for 4-star guard Acaden Lewis

SEE ALSO: Current 2026 recruiting targets for Kentucky basketball

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Kentucky baseball commit Tyler Bell foregoes MLB, will play in Lexington

Tyler Bell announced Wednesday that he would play for Kentucky baseball.

Nick Mingione and the Kentucky baseball program got a major boost Wednesday when highly touted infielder and class of 2024 recruit Tyler Bell announced his intention to play for the Bat Cats in 2025.

Bell was the No. 66 overall selection by the Tampa Bay Rays in this year’s Major League Baseball Draft. He announced his intention to forego the professional ranks and to play for Kentucky in a social media post to X early Wednesday afternoon.

In doing so, the Rays will lose the $1,260,200 million slot value associated with the pick from their bonus pool. Bell will not be eligible for the draft again until after the 2026 season.

“Tyler is an outstanding player and tremendous person,” Mingione said in a press release. “He will perfectly fit into our culture both on and off the field. The Kentucky baseball program got better today.”

Listed as 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, Bell committed to Kentucky out of Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort, Ill. Perfect Game rated him the No. 59 overall player in the class of 2024.

The 2024 season was a historic one for Kentucky baseball. The Wildcats reached the College World Series in Omaha for the first time in program history and finished No. 3 in the final USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll behind national champion Tennessee and runner-up Texas A&M.