With already a couple major summer events concluded it is time to look at the top juniors-to-be from across the nation that have interest in Kentucky.

G/F Michael Gilchrist 
Gilchrist is widely considered the best player in the nation regardless of class and age. Although he is stil 15 years of age, Gilchrist has one of the most developed and mature games in the high school ranks.

He can dominate on both ends of the floor and gives great effort at all times, two things rarely seen from kids before college.

Gilchrist won the Best Prospect award at the NBA Players Camp and was one of the most impressive players at the King City Classic in Akron, Ohio.

Many people feel that Gilchrist is a lock for Kentucky but that has been denied by Gilchrist and his family. It does appear, however, that Kentucky along with Villanova has a definite advantage for the consensus #1 player in the 2011 class.

PG Marquis Teague
Fresh off a stellar performance at the King City Classic, Marquis Teague has firmly established himself as the #1 point guard in the nation, topping Austin Rivers and Tony Wroten Jr.

Teague, once thought to be a Louisville lock, has added Kentucky to his list after news broke that he recently got a scholarship offer from the Cats.

Teague is similar to his older brother Jeff, a first-round pick of the Atlanta Hawks, in that he is loaded with athleticism and can get to the rim at will.

F/C Johnny O’Bryant

O’Bryant has claimed a spot amongst the top post players in the nation with his finishing ability and freakish athleticism. O’Bryant is in the mold of a shorter Amar’e Stoudemire because he has not yet developed a consistent jump shot, similar to Stoudemire at the same stage , and can dunk on anyone at any time.

O’Bryant has stated that Kentucky is among his top five schools along with teams like Memphis and Mississippi State.

There is no question that July is the most important month in high school basketball recruiting, and with that much just getting under way UKmadness will break down the top 2010 prospects UK will be recruiting and players the Wildcat fans should be on the look out for during the July evaluation period.

Brandon Knight

Rivals Profile
Scout Profile

Knight is ranked within the top two overall in the class of 2010 by both Rivals and Scout recruiting services and for good reason. He is the unquestioned number one point guard in the U.S. and has one of the most complete games on the circuit with his ability to stroke it from outside and also to use his deceivingly strong frame to bully his way to the basket on an array of drives.

He is not in the mold of a Derrick Rose or John Wall but Knight has the potential to be as good as both of these stars.

Knight looks to be leaning towards the academics of Duke and the in-state appeal of Florida but UK should have a say in the end, seeing as their coach will send three straight point guards to top five draft picks once John Wall spends his one and only year in college and becomes a top five pick.

Doron Lamb

Rivals Profile
Scout Profile 

The reason Lamb ranks second on this list is because of the fact that he has publicly stated that Kentucky is one of his favorite schools and the fact that he just made an unofficial visit to the UK campus last weekend.

Lamb is unique in the sense that he actually has a deadly mid range game, an area that seems to be nonexistent in high school players across America for the most part.

Lamb currently plays for Oak Hill (VA) Academy during the high school season, a school that has sent many players to UK over the years, partly because of head coach Steve Smith’s ties to the state—he grew up in the eastern part of Kentucky.

UK assistant coach Rod Strickland also attended the school for his senior season of high school and is from the New York area, as Lamb is.

Look for UK to land Lamb in the end, although this recruitment could be a long, drawn out one.

 
Joe Jackson

Rivals Profile
Scout Profile

Once thought to be a lock to John Calipari at Memphis, Joe Jackson has stated numerous times that he has large interest in the UK program because of its tradition and the fact that Coach Cal is now the man in charge.

Jackson, a Memphis, Tennessee native, seems to be a strong Memphis lean because of his desire to stay near home but if anyone can snag him out of his home city it is Cal.

Jackson is a small point guard with an unmatched first step and unbelievable athleticism and he has the perfect slashing-type game to play in Coach Cal’s DDM offense. 

CJ Leslie

Rivals Profile
Scout Profile

CJ Leslie is ranked more inconsistently than almost any player in the nation. Some feel that his athleticism is such that he should be ranked quite high simply because of his vast potential, while others seem to think that, because he does not have a top 25 game at this moment, he does not deserve to be considered a 5-star prospect.

Leslie, a former high school teammate of upcoming UK freshman John Wall, has been telling outlets that he loves Coach Cal and is seriously considering the Cats because of that. He also has stated numerous times that Wall has been in his ear telling him how great UK is and that can only help.

Leslie may be the most athletic player in the 2010 class and has a college-ready body that should only progress in his year and a half until he steps onto a college campus.

More to come later on this week.

There are a lot of things happening with the University of Kentucky program as of late. Xavier Henry came and went, then came and went again, Doron Lamb has a clear favorite, and John Wall has a new mixtape video.

• Xavier Henry has decided to stay at Kansas after meeting with Bill Self and Danny Manning in Oklahoma yesterday. Speculation was he wanted to leave Kansas for Kentucky after an article was published in a Kansas City newspaper blasting the Henrys and not making them feel welcomed
• One of John Calipari’s top prep targets, New York guard Doron Lamb, stated in an interview with Adam Zagoria that Kentucky is his leader but that he is still open at this point. Lamb, entering his senior season at Oak Hill (VA) Academy, is a 5-star guard originally from New York.

Videos

Matt Pilgrim is not happy about being dissed by Kentucky and Coach Calipari

New John Wall Mixtape from Reebok Summer Championships. An ode to Michael Jackson with the Billie Jean Mix

On a Kansas City radio station today Carl Henry, the father of Xavier and CJ, stated he and his family felt betrayed by a newspaper article that made the Henry’s look like “prima donna’s” and that they were questioning their commitment to Kansas even further.

Carl stated that Daniel Orton and John Wall, two players who chose Kentucky over Kansas among others, have been talking to Xavier about how great it is in Lexington and how they want him to join them in the pursuit of an NCAA Championship.

Many Kansas message boards have been calling the Henry family “slime” amongst other things for the way they have handled their displeasure with the Kansas program.

So what will the UK program look like if Henry joins as the fifth five-star player this season?

Potential Starters

PG: John Wall – Top five player in the nation right off the bat

SG: Xavier Henry – Deadly shooter who has a complete offensive game

SF: Darius Miller – Will be one of the most improved players in the SEC and fits DDM offense perfectly

PF: Patrick Patterson – Decision to come back was the right one. May be the top big man in the country

C: DeMarcus Cousins – Rated as the #2 high school player in the nation behind Wall and is a bigger, more talented Patrick Patterson at the same stage

Potential Key Bench Players

Eric Bledsoe – Would be starting for most teams in the nation. A really strong and powerful guard.

Jon Hood – Very athletic wing with an old school game. Will not cry about getting limited minutes and should pick up the offense quickly.

Daniel Orton – Coming off an injury he should be ready to prove himself. Great body who should play very aggressively.

Darnell Dodson – Another deadly shooter who can get into the lane. Will cause teams not to double the great post players.

Henry to UK? Europe? Still KU?

Remember a few weeks ago when it looked like there was some problems with Bill Self and Xavier Henry?

Well it looks like there may be some more smoke to the Xavier Henry fire.

In an interview with a Kansas athletics website, Carl Henry, Xavier’s father, stated that Xavier wanted to go to Kentucky but he and his wife said they would not move to Lexington and advised him to stay home and go to Kansas.

But that’s not it.

Xavier is not enrolled in summer school and Carl Henry has met with advisors about Xavier maybe playing in Europe rather than KU. Carl Henry stated that Coach Self knew about these meetings but one has to wonder why he would even be meeting with people about these things.

More to come later.

Kentucky star Jodie Meeks was chosen in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks but how does he fit into their future?

Meeks becomes the fifth shooting guard on the Milwaukee roster, which does not bode well for Jodie.

But the one thing that Jodie Meeks DOES have going for him is that outside of Michael Redd the Bucks do not have a legitimate scoring guard. Keith Bogans and Bruce Bowen are more defensive oriented and Charlie Bell is more of a distributor and point guard.

Meeks could end up being the backup to Michael Redd, and with Redd’s injury history I would not be surprised if Meeks logged major minutes at some point next season.

With two terrific passing point guards in Ramon Sessions and rookie Brandon Jennings, Meeks could find himself in many scoring positions and have many opportunities to prove what he can do offensively.

Big man Andrew Bogut should benefit from having Meeks around because it will be difficult to double down on him when Meeks is ready to fire from behind the arc.

Jodie Meeks has been picked with the 11th pick of the second round in the NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Meeks can fill the void left by the departure of Richard Jefferson via trade and should get immediate opportunities to show his scoring ability at the next level.

More to come later in a breakdown of what he could see.

With news coming out today that All-American guard Jodie Meeks is heading for the NBA instead of another year at Kentucky, many Wildcat fans thought the same thing, “Where do we go from here?”

To answer this question you have to look at the players that will be replacing Meeks in the Kentucky lineup next season.

Two new players to the program, Darnell Dodson and Jon Hood, will look to replace Meeks in the Kentucky lineup by using a mix of lineups to confuse opponents.

Dodson, a 6-foot 7 junior, spent last season at Miami Dade College after transferring from Pittsburgh during his freshman campaign.

Hood, a 6-foot 7 freshman, was born and raised in Madisonville, Kentucky and is the reigning “Mr. Basketball” in the state of Kentucky.

Like Meeks, Dodson is a deadly shooter from long range with the ability to completely dominate a game from behind the arc.

Hood can stroke from long range as well but makes his presence known from mid range because of his silky smooth jumper that becomes impossible to block when factoring in his length.

Meeks’ departure leaves the Wildcats much thinner at the shooting guard spot. Eric Bledsoe, one of two incoming five-star point guards, will play along side John Wall—the other five-star point guard joining the Cats—in the Kentucky lineup.

The biggest question surrounding Meeks’ exit is how will Kentucky’s preseason ranking be affected. Many believe they will remain within the top three, along with Kansas and Villanova.

In my mind, Kentucky moves from second to third in the preseason rankings, falling behind Villanova after Scottie Reynolds announced his return to Nova.

The NBA deadline to enter a name into the NBA Draft is this Monday and Jodie Meeks still has not decided what he is going to do.

It appears from all indications that Meeks’ wish to become a first-round pick will not come true and he will either be a mid-to-late second-round pick or go undrafted. Meeks has been quoted as saying he will only stay in the draft if he thinks he can get guaranteed money and it does not appear that is likely.

So what happens with UK if Meeks stays or goes? Well, this is a HUGE decision for UK as well as Meeks. If Meeks stays in the draft and hires an agent UK will likely stay at around top 5-10 in the preseason polls and be expected to reach the Sweet 16 and Elite 8. But if Meeks returns UK will definitely be the top team in America heading into next season and will be poised to make another Final Four run, and perhaps, win their eighth NCAA Championship.

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As it stands now, UK has one too many players on athletic scholarship. There are a few players who could leave and there are three very reasonable candidates.

DeAndre Liggins
DeAndre Liggins, a rising sophomore, looks like he may be heading out. Liggins does not seem to have a place on a team that will be with two 5-star point guards and maybe Kevin Galloway.

John Wall will be starting and Eric Bledsoe will be logging major minutes coming off the bench—and will start the following year.

By the time Liggins will get any significant playing time he will be a senior, as UK looks to land a stud point guard for next season.

I believe Liggins will be the player you see make an exit from this team and transfer to a lesser known school in Division I.

Kevin Galloway
I guess Galloway could be the player to go but the fact that he will be a senior next season really makes me question that.

Galloway has the ability to play three different positions and he appears to be a great energy guy coming off the bench. He has pretty good open court skills so I think he will stay.

Matt Pilgrim
As odd as it may seem, Matt Piligrim could very well be the player left on the wrong side of this equation.

Although he has become an icon of sorts during his year off the roster, Pilgrim is going to be sitting behind two or three top tier players next season, including Patrick Patterson.

Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton all will log more minutes than Pilgrim and if need be Pilgrim could be the player to go.

We will keep you updated on any further developments of this story.