Wednesday could be another [I]huge[/I] day for John Calipari on the recruiting trail, or he could fail miserably and lose out on both Shabazz Muhammad and Nerlens Noel.
With many rumors swirling right now, I will be answering your questions over the next few days in preparation (and response) to the spring’s signing period.
With that being said, here is the National Signing Day edition of Garrett’s Mailbag.
[B]If Kentucky doesn’t land Nerlens Noel, will Alex Oriakhi[B] become a must-have for Calipari?[/B][FONT=tahoma][COLOR=#222222][/COLOR][/FONT]
– Mark[/B]
Great question to start with, Mark.
Many people have jumped on the Nerlens-to-Georgetown Bandwagon over the past few days, so some people are starting to wonder where Calipari will go if he loses out on Noel. I wouldn’t necessarily say Kentucky has to get Oriakhi, but it would definitely ease some minds to all of Big Blue Nation out there.
In the long run (getting Nerlens Noel or not), I don’t think Oriakhi fits too well with Kentucky. However, it only matters what John Calipari thinks. If he believes the transfer will be a good fit in Lexington, I will not argue against him. I just don’t see it happening.
[B]Do you think Kentucky will land Shabazz Muhammad and/or Nerlens Noel?
– Jackie
[/B]I am interestedto see where this question ranks among the “Most Popular Questions of the Year Award.” I see this asked dozens of times each day, on top of the dozens of times it is asked to myself.
I firmly believe Kentucky will have one of the aforementioned players when we all lay our heads on the pillow Wednesday night. Which player? I think the safe bet right now would be Nerlens Noel, but I don’t think you can count out Shabazz to this point, either.
As I said in the previous question, many seem to be confident about Noel to Georgetown. If there is one thing I have learned the past few years, you can’t always go with the popular vote. I will stick with my source close to Noel and say he will be going with UK.
I’m not saying Shabazz Muhammad will not be a Cat, but I would be surprised if he didn’t end up at UCLA when it is all said and done.
[B]Who do you think we will get for 2013?
– @j2centerfield4
Are the Harrison twins Kentucky locks? Or does Maryland have a chance?
– Brandon[/B]
I think it may be a little premature to say who Kentucky will have committed for the 2013 class to join Derek Willis, but I have a few names that I believe are top targets to this point:
Aaron & Andrew Harrison, Julius Randle, Troy Williams, and Jabari Parker.
Troy Williams is set to decide very soon, as in the end of April or May, and his final three is North Carolina, Georgetown, and Kentucky. Williams grew up a big Tarheel fan, so it will be tough to pull him from Roy Williams. However, his legendary uncle Boo Williams and John Calipari are close friends. Despite his fan roots, he realizes what UK can do for him. It will be exciting come down the stretch here for this nice wing prospect.
Now to Brandon’s question regarding the Harrisons. I am very confident that Kentucky will get the Harrison twins, but I know their camp is still open to Maryland and the other two schools remaining on their list, Baylor and Villanova. But in the end Calipari’s history with guards will be too much. The Harrisons are undoubtedly the safest pick to Kentucky right now, regardless of class.
It is going to be tough to get Julius Randle and Jabari Parker from other great schools, but it is not impossible. In the end, I would say Randle comes down to Duke and Kentucky. I can’t give a good read on Parker, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Tobacco Road schools and Michigan State competing to the end with him.
Austin Nichols is a player to keep an eye on, too. Calipari told Nichols he wanted to see if he and Willis had the ability to play with each other, and Nichols has been playing overseas with Team USA for the past few days. According to some, he has been very impressive.
That’s all for today. Thanks for the questions! To submit other questions, feel free to email me at [email][email protected][/email].
Follow Garrett Tucker on Twitter [URL=”https://twitter.com/#%21/GTuckersports”]@GTuckersports[/URL] for more info on Kentucky recruiting.
