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As late as last week, 4-star Center Michael Chandler (2011) was very interested in coming to Kentucky to play basketball. Then Monday, Adam Zagoria reported that Kentucky had ‘backed off’ recruiting him. Why? Nobody seems to know, but both parties are apparently moving on.
Chandler has a current top five of Providence, West Virginia, Indiana, Purdue and Xavier. He has taken official visits to West Virginia and Providence, and plans to visit Xavier this weekend. For his part, Chandler did say this:
[QUOTE]
“I’m taking officials now, but it doesn’t mean just those schools are at the top of my list[/QUOTE] and [QUOTE]“There are a lot of schools still looking at me.”[/QUOTE]
([URL=”http://www.indystar.com/article/20101022/SPORTS02/10220327/1057/SPORTS02/Chandler-sets-visit-to-Xavier”]source[/URL])
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Kentucky likewise is reviewing other options. Word came out yesterday that UK was showing ‘heavy interest’ in another 4-star Center – Adjehi Baru. While Chandler is a local boy, Baru is originally from the Ivory Coast (currently attending school in Virginia). While Chandler held interest in Kentucky for a while, they seemingly weren’t on Baru’s radar until just recently. Depending on which site you follow, neither is consistently ranked above the other.
One thing is for sure, they have definite differences in playing style. Chandler is a little more refined, sometimes taking a back seat to let others make the play. Baru is more passionate and determined; his coach said that if someone scores on him in the post, he takes it personally. Coach Calipari seems to like the passionate types (see Cousins, DeMarcus), so I guess this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Cal knows what he’s doing though, and I’m sure he has his reasons for the change in interest. Recent rumblings have been heard as far as Chandler’s grades, so that could have had an impact as well.
