July 2010 Recruiting Preview

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.