Kentucky will begin hosting recruits for official visits later this month
With the start of football season comes the start of official visit season for high school basketball recruits. Programs across the country use gamedays on the gridiron as a perfect opportunity to showcase what their fanbases have to offer. OVs happen all throughout the year, but the fall (which includes the early signing period) is when a large chunk of top-ranked prospects make their trips.
Kentucky men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope has already locked in a handful of official visitors for this fall that coincides with kickoffs at Kroger Field.
Who does Pope have scheduled to visit Lexington over the coming months? So far, we know of four Top 30 recruits from the 2025 cycle who intend to OV at Kentucky between now and the end of October, with a fifth still mulling over a date but fully expected to make it to campus. Other recruits such as Acaden Lewis, Chris Cenac, Eric Reibe, Niko Bundalo, Brayden Burries, and Mikel Brown also expect to officially visit UK, but the recruits listed below have confirmed that the OVs will happen.
Let’s break them all down.
6-9 SF Nate Ament (5-star, No. 7) August 28
A trip to Kentucky is the first official visit made public for five-star wing Nate Ament, who saw his stock soar throughout the summer. He was already being recruited by Pope and assistant coach Cody Fueger when the two were at BYU, and that relationship has continued in Lexington. Ament, who has said previously he could see himself thriving in Pope’s offense as a floor-stretching scorer, is now considered the No. 3 overall recruit in this cycle by On3. This recruitment could go into the spring before a decision is finally made but Kentucky is right in the thick of the race.
- Other 2024 OVs: Virginia (Sept. 14)
- Schools in the mix: Duke, UConn, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Kansas, Tennessee, and more
6-9 PF Caleb Wilson (5-star, No. 4) September 13
This OV was a bit of a shock to most. The previous Kentucky coaching staff was making Caleb Wilson a priority, but it took a while until Pope and his staff really got the ball rolling in July That doesn’t appear to have put the Wildcats too far behind the 8-ball though. Kentucky is one of two OVs on Wilson’s schedule that have been made public. He’ll come to Lexington for the football team’s primetime showdown against top-ranked Georgia. As a playmaking big man with impressive defensive skills, he’d be a terrific fit in Pope’s system.
