Recruiting notebook: Top 2024 recruits trim their school lists, and Kentucky makes the cut

While John Calipari remains focused on this year’s Kentucky team, work continues on the future of the Wildcats’ program, specifically in the class of 2024.

Kentucky already has its star-studded 2023 recruiting class in place, featuring five players in what’s considered the best recruiting class in the nation.

The Wildcats are yet to receive a commitment in the class of 2024, but that shouldn’t be cause for alarm or panic.

Here’s a look at the latest developments between Kentucky and several top high school juniors.

UK makes the cut for small forward from Georgia

Airious “Ace” Bailey, who is ranked as the No. 6 player nationally in the class of 2024 by the 247Sports Composite, has included Kentucky in his recently released list of 12 schools under consideration.

The 6-foot-10, 185-pound Bailey attends McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia, which is about 30 minutes outside of Atlanta.

Bailey released his new list of 12 schools on New Year’s Day.

The list included (in alphabetical order): Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Oregon, Rutgers, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

Current SEC schools comprise half of Bailey’s 12-school list, and that number grows to seven if you include Texas, which is set to join the SEC in 2025 (although recent buzz indicates that Oklahoma and Texas may push to join the SEC a year earlier than planned).

As for Bailey, it became apparent in September — when the college basketball recruiting period resumed — that he was a focal point of the Wildcats’ recruiting efforts in 2024.

Calipari and other members of the Kentucky coaching staff visited Bailey on Sept. 13, and offered him a scholarship the same day.

Bailey has taken official visits to Auburn and Rutgers, according to 247Sports.

Auburn is viewed as the leader in Bailey’s recruitment, in no small part because former Auburn standout Sharife Cooper also went to McEachern High School.

The college basketball recruiting process isn’t foreign to Bailey’s family: His mother played at West Virginia and his aunt (Venus Lacy) played in the WNBA and won an Olympic gold medal with the United States.

Kentucky still in race for star New Jersey guard

You may be familiar with Kentucky’s recruiting success in the Tri-State area.

It’s brought players like Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Jamal Mashburn and current Wildcat Lance Ware to Lexington, and will do more of the same next season when Aaron Bradshaw, Justin Edwards and DJ Wagner all become Wildcats.

Kentucky has several scholarship offers out to class of 2024 players from the area, and one of them — point guard Tahaad Pettiford — is showing mutual admiration for UK.

This week, Pettiford released a reduced list of seven schools under consideration, and the Wildcats made the cut.

Pettiford’s list of seven schools included: Auburn, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Seton Hall and UCLA.

Pettiford — who attends Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City, New Jersey — is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 21 player nationally in the class of 2024 and the No. 2 point guard in the class.

But, the 5-11, 160-pound Pettiford hasn’t been in action for quite some time.

Pettiford had knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and hasn’t played yet during his junior season.

Pettiford told 247Sports that he’s hoping to make his college decision before his first session of AAU play later this year.

Last summer, the Herald-Leader was in attendance for a private scrimmage in Chicago that featured Pettiford and other standout high school basketball talent, and the New Jersey point guard was one of the biggest stock risers from the game.

Pettiford produced consecutive highlight-reel plays during that event, dunking on fellow 2024 (and Louisville) recruit Trentyn Flowers before then making a three-pointer in Flowers’ face. Pettiford was fouled on both plays while scoring.

Wildcats still in pole position for Karter Knox

One of Kentucky’s top priorities in the class of 2024 is locking down the commitment of small forward Karter Knox, something that seems easy enough on paper.

Knox is a UK legacy, one of the younger brothers of Kevin Knox II, the former Wildcat who was a lottery selection in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Knox has taken only two recruiting visits so far: To Lexington (for Big Blue Madness) and to Louisville.

Continued buzz around Knox is that he’s far more likely to follow in his older brother’s footsteps and join Kentucky, rather than spurn the Wildcats for their biggest rival.

This comes after Knox put in a pair of standout showings in December during two holiday tournaments: The City of Palms Classic in his home state of Florida, and the Beach Ball Classic in South Carolina.

“Karter has a chip on his shoulder, and he’ll tell you, ‘I want to be better than my brother. I want to blaze my own trail,’” Knox’s father, Kevin Knox Sr., told the Herald-Leader in October.

It’s also worthwhile to note that another Kentucky vs. Louisville recruiting battle could be taking shape, centered around the class of 2024 player to whom Kentucky most recently offered a scholarship.

The Wildcats extended an offer to Billy Richmond — a three-star shooting guard per the 247Sports Composite and a high school teammate of Aaron Bradshaw and DJ Wagner — on Dec. 30.

Richmond also has a scholarship offer from Louisville, and U of L head coach Kenny Payne and assistant coach Nolan Smith both recently watched him play.

Richmond has yet to take an official visit, but already has some direct ties to Kentucky.

He’s the son of former Memphis guard Billy Richmond Jr., who played for Calipari at Memphis in the early 2000s.

Ian Jackson set for visit to North Carolina

While several of these updates for class of 2024 recruits relate to what will happen in future weeks and months, the most pressing issue of the moment will take shape in just a few days.

Ian Jackson — a shooting guard from New York City ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 2 player in the class of 2024 — is taking his fourth official visit this weekend. Jackson was to visit North Carolina on Friday, one day before the Tar Heels were to host Notre Dame.

Jackson is Kentucky’s top target in the class of 2024, and recently hinted that he may be nearing a college decision.

Calipari and Kentucky associate coach Orlando Antigua watched Jackson play in his hometown of New York City last month. The day prior, Jackson was at Madison Square Garden for Kentucky’s game against UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic.

Jackson is also a strong candidate to reclassify from the 2024 to the 2023 class.

Is he ready for that move?

“If he feels like he’s ready for that challenge, he can be someone that can contribute and class up and play,” Ani Umana, the director of 5-State Hoop Report and someone who recently watched Jackson play, told the Herald-Leader. “He’s talented enough to impact the game.”

But visiting Chapel Hill won’t be the only development in Jackson’s recruitment over the next few days.

Jackson is expected to visit Arkansas on Jan. 11 when the Razorbacks host Alabama, which would mark Jackson’s fifth official visit.

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