Aaron Bradshaw and DJ Wagner will both be at Madness. Here’s the latest on their UK recruitments.

While Kentucky basketball’s 2023 recruiting class has come together — already featuring a top point guard, an elite small forward and an in-state recruit — two other players have often been front and center of mind for Wildcats fans.

New Jersey high school and travel ball teammates Aaron Bradshaw and DJ Wagner are two of the best players in the class of 2023 yet to commit to a post-high school basketball playing pathway.

For Bradshaw, that will change on Nov. 16, when he announces the next step in his basketball career. For Wagner, the timing of his announcement, like most of his college recruitment, remains under wraps.

Both players will be making their second visits to Kentucky later this week for Friday night’s Big Blue Madness, which brings the key question to the forefront again.

Where does Kentucky stand in both Bradshaw and Wagner’s recruitments?

According to a plugged-in national recruiting analyst, UK is in a very good spot with one player and can be “cautiously optimistic” with the other.

Rob Cassidy, who covers recruiting nationally for Rivals, told the Herald-Leader on Monday that Kentucky remains the expected college choice for Wagner.

While much has been discussed and written about the family ties Wagner has to both Kentucky and Louisville during his high-profile recruitment, Wagner has never taken an official visit to Louisville.

Another sign in UK’s favor with regard to Wagner’s recruitment arrived Monday afternoon, with the announcement that Nike signed five basketball players, including Wagner, to NIL endorsement deals.

UK is a Nike school. Louisville is an Adidas school.

The 6-3 combo guard, who is ranked as the No. 1 player in the class of 2023 by the 247Sports Composite, has not announced a timetable for his college decision.

But with Kentucky viewed as being firmly in the driver’s seat to secure his commitment, what kind of attributes does he project to bring to the Cats?

“What differentiates him is his ability to create advantages with such ease (in pick-and-roll and isolation situations), and capitalize on them as a scorer and playmaker,” Pro Insight Basketball analyst Alex Brown told the Herald-Leader. “Overall, guards that excel as on-ball creators with his processing tend to excel at the college level.”

According to Cassidy, the end outcome of Bradshaw playing for UK is less certain.

“I guess if I was a Kentucky fan, I’d be cautiously optimistic about it,” Cassidy said of Bradshaw opting to go to Kentucky. “I’d be more confident about Wagner than Bradshaw.”

Bradshaw — a seven-foot center — will decide on Nov. 16 between options that include Kentucky, Louisville, the NBA G League and Southern California.

He previously visited Kentucky in June, with Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman leading UK’s recruiting efforts.

Bradshaw was thought to be committing to Kentucky over the summer, an expected choice that never materialized.

Now, as his recruitment nears an end, the NBA G League pathway has continued its pursuit of the talented big man, although Bradshaw has previously said he’s leaning more toward college basketball than the G League.

Where has the G League appeal come from?

“It’s obvious, the money is there. That’s going to be the driving force behind everything, I think. And then also, I think Aaron got so much better this summer,” Cassidy explained. “He took so many different steps that maybe now he feels like he’s a little bit more prepared to play the G League and to be a pro and to maybe be a year away from the NBA.”

If Kentucky is believed to be in a spot where securing the commitments of Bradshaw and Wagner ranges from likely to a near certainty, the next question becomes what effect does this have on UK’s 2023 recruiting class.

Already with the pledges of point guard Robert Dillingham, combo guard Reed Sheppard and small forward Justin Edwards, the Cats have the fourth-best 2023 recruiting class in the country according to the 247Sports Composite.

In a recent ranking by ESPN, the Cats checked in with the second-best 2023 recruiting class.

The additions of Bradshaw, Wagner or both to an already highly regarded class will vault UK to the top of team recruiting rankings, and likely draw comparisons to the 2011 recruiting class that helped power UK’s last national championship team.

And if all this is to be assumed, the next situation to ponder is what Kentucky’s roster would look like for the 2023-24 season, given additions and potential departures.

From this season’s roster, potential losses to the NBA Draft include forwards Damion Collins, Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin, as well as backcourt players and likely one-and-done freshmen Chris Livingston and Cason Wallace.

Four of those five players were listed in ESPN’s recent 2023 mock NBA Draft update.

Some insight into these decisions can be taken from Kentucky’s Pro Day, a two-day event in Lexington held in front of NBA scouts that began Sunday night.