Sunday, August 29, 2010

Kyle Wiltjer commits to Kentucky

Just two shorts weeks ago, Anthony Davis -- the consensus No. 6 recruit in the country -- committed to John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats. This set off a flurry of discussion and speculation regarding where UK's 2011 recruiting class, which at the time included Davis, No. 2 Mike Gilchrist, and No. 3 Marquis Teague.

At the time, we said that it was premature to compare the 2011 Kentucky class because we did not believe the class to be complete yet.

It only took 12 days for this theory to prove itself true.

Last night was the BOOST Mobile Elite 24 high school all-star game, and during the game, 6'9" power forward Kyle Wiltjer from Oregon committed to Kentucky. Perhaps the most amazing part of the decision made by Wiltjer, who is the 22nd rated prospect in our rankings, is that he committed to the Wildcats despite having not even visited Kentucky.

Kentucky now has four of the top 22 recruits in the country.
(photo credit: Louisville Courier-Journal)

That is pretty impressive.

Right now, Kentucky is using 11 of their 13 scholarships. Josh Harrellson is a senior, and Jarrod Polson is a walk-on that was given a scholarship for this season, which means that Coach Cal can feasibly give all four 2011 freshmen scholarships. Many believe that Enes Kanter, and possibly Brandon Knight and/or Terrence Jones, will be one-and-done prospects. If that's the case, then its quite possible that Calipari will be able to bring in an even stronger class.

Will Quincy Miller and Deuce Bello decide to head to Lexington? What about DeAndre Daniels, who recently withdrew from his commitment to Texas? (Daniels is headed to prep school, but there are still rumors floating around that he could end up at Kentucky this season.) Tony Wroten? Chane Behanan?

I think its safe to assume Kentucky will be the preseason No. 1 in 2011-2012.

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