Ever since John Calipari came to Kentucky he has had at least one Top 3 recruit in his class: John Wall, Brandon Knight, Anthony Davis, Nerlens Noel, Julius Randle, Karl Anthony-Towns, and this year it continued with Skal Labissiere.
However, this streak looks to come to an end in 2016.
The consensus top 3 in the class of 2016 (although the rankings regularly change) are Jayson Tatum, Josh Jackson and Harry Giles.
Jayson Tatum has already committed to Duke.
Duke is a favorite for Harry Giles, followed by UNC and Wake Forest.
Then with Josh Jackson, Arizona is the most likely at this point, with Kansas and Maryland following behind.
So where does this leave Calipari in his recruiting for next season?
De’Aaron Fox was the #2 PG in his class, but after a knee injury to Dennis Smith Jr. Fox moved into the #1 spot. Although, it’s said Kansas is the favorite, Kentucky has showed interest and Fox has admitted to being interested in Kentucky. So Kentucky is still in great shape to possibly pick up Fox.
Malik Monk is another possibility. He has been compared to Vince Carter, because of his athleticism and ability to score at will. Although his home state of Arkansas is trying to keep him, the temptation of national fame with Kentucky weighs heavily.
Since the 2015-16 season hasn’t started yet, there is plenty of time for this thing to sort itself out. You can never count out Calipari with any recruit until they have made their commitment.
Only time will tell, so let the master recruiter do his work.
