Stock Watch: Isaiah Stewart, Oscar Tshiebwe among UK recruiting board rises

Courier Journal

LEXINGTON, Ky. – John Calipari’s travel itinerary in recent weeks has offered a clear picture at his class of 2019 recruiting priorities as he jetted around the country to visit prospects in their homes.

The top targets for Kentucky have not changed, but new names have emerged while some others have grown in importance or fallen to the wayside since our last big board update at the end of July. With prospects beginning to take their official visits, here is what you need to know about Kentucky’s 2019 class.

RISING

Scottie Lewis

Position: Small forward
Hometown: Eatontown, New Jersey
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 9
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 2
What to know: After completing official visits to Florida and Kentucky this month, Lewis is down to those two schools with a decision looming in the near future. Recruiting pundits had predicted Lewis was headed to Florida, but 247 Sports national recruiting director Evan Daniels was among the experts to back off that prediction recently, changing his Crystal Ball pick to “foggy.” Optimistic UK fans will take heart in the fact Lewis was spotted wearing UK basketball shorts at a New Jersey fall league event this week.

Read this:UK's next MKG? Five-star target Scottie Lewis a versatile talent

Aidan Igiehon

Position: Center
Hometown: Dublin, Ireland
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 44
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 12
What to know: We’ve put Igiehon in the “rising” category because Kentucky’s interest is certainly more concrete than it was a month ago, but it still remains to be seen where he ranks on Calipari’s expanding list of post targets in the class. Calipari and UK assistant Tony Barbee met with Igiehon on an in-home visit earlier this month, but he has yet to schedule an official visit to Lexington and other programs – most notably Louisville – have prioritized him more than Kentucky has. Igiehon recently told the Courier Journal he had picked up a UK scholarship offer, but sources around the program have yet to confirm that news.

More:Irish pride fuels this top Louisville target's rise up the 2019 rankings

Jaden McDaniels

Position: Power Forward
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 4
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 1
What to know: There has been no confirmation of a UK scholarship offer for McDaniels, but Calipari made sure to tweet several photos from the Seattle area to signal he had visited the top-five prospect earlier this month and McDaniels included UK in his top-five list released Monday. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding this recruitment, but Washington, UCLA, Texas and San Diego State are the other schools in the running apparently.

Zeke Nnaji

Position: Power forward
Hometown: Hopkins, Minnesota
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 34
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 8
What to know: One of two new names to emerge on UK’s recruiting board this month, Nnaji picked up an offer from Kentucky during a recent in-home visit with Calipari. An AAU teammate of UK target Matthew Hurt, Nnaji has also hosted Kansas, Georgetown, Baylor, Minnesota, UCLA, Arizona, Indiana, Purdue and Creighton this month. The 6-foot-10 forward has said he wants to schedule a visit to UK.

Isaiah Stewart

Position: Center
Hometown: Rochester, New York
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 5
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 3
What to know: Kentucky’s chances of landing Stewart, believed by some to be the most college-ready big man in the class, appeared to have sailed after the Wildcats’ slow-played his recruitment while prioritizing James Wiseman, Vernon Carey and Matthew Hurt in the spring and summer, but the two sides are talking again and Stewart is now scheduled to take an official visit to Lexington this weekend. He had previous listed a top six of Washington, Syracuse, Indiana, Villanova, Duke and Michigan State. Stewart will play at the La Lumiere School in Indiana with Keion Brooks this season.

More How will EJ Montgomery fit in Kentucky basketball's post rotation?

Oscar Tshiebwe

Position: Center
Hometown: Democratic Republic of the Congo
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 22
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 8
What to know: Also scheduled to visit Kentucky this weekend is Tshiebwe, who picked up an offer from Calipari during an in-home visit earlier this month. West Virginia has been portrayed as the leader for his services, but Kentucky’s late interest has muddled the picture. Baylor and Illinois are also listed in his top four, but this will be a battle between close friends Calipari and West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. Tshiebwe burst onto UK’s radar after besting Wiseman in a matchup this summer with 24 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks.

HOLDING STEADY

Cole Anthony

Position: Combo guard
Hometown: New York, New York
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 3
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 1
What to know: The son of former NBA player and television analyst Greg Anthony, Cole has been tight-lipped about his recruitment throughout the process. While there has been no public confirmation of a UK offer, Anthony could commit to almost any school he wanted to. In August, he released a top 12 of Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville, Oregon, Villanova, Wake Forrest, Pittsburg, Georgetown, Notre Dame and Miami. Still waiting on word of whether he will visit Kentucky this fall.

Watch this:Cole Anthony talks recruiting at Peach Jam

Keion Brooks

Position: Small forward
Hometown: Fort Wayne, Indiana
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 21
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 5
What to know: Brooks appeared to be slipping on Kentucky’s board after commitments from fellow wings Dontaie Allen and Khalil Whitney, but Calipari visited Brooks and Stewart at La Lumiere earlier this month. Visits to UCLA, Indiana and North Carolina have been scheduled. If he takes one to Kentucky too, we’ll know the interest is still mutual despite the logjam at his position in the class. Brooks included UK on his top-six list released Tuesday.

Vernon Carey

Position: Center
Hometown: Southwest Ranches, Florida
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 2
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 2
What to know: A consensus top-two prospect in the class, Carey is scheduled to visit Kentucky for Big Blue Madness on Oct. 12. He also has visits scheduled to Duke, Miami, Michigan State and North Carolina. Duke leads in the 247Sports Crystal Ball, but no pundit seems to have a firm grasp on where Carey will end up.

Matthew Hurt

Position: Power forward
Hometown: Rochester, Minnesota
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 6
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 2
What to know: Kansas holds 83 percent of the 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions, but one of Calipari’s first visits of the September contact period was to see Hurt and Nnaji in Minnesota. No plans for official visits have been released, so Hurts’ recruitment remains in something of a holding pattern with many of the top programs in the country involved.

James Wiseman

Position: Center
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 1
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 1
What to know: Kentucky landed the first official visit for Wiseman, long believed to be Calipari’s top recruiting target in the class. He has other visits scheduled to Kansas, Vanderbilt and Florida State, but Memphis is the top competitor for Kentucky. The longer Wiseman goes without committing to his former high school and AAU coach Penny Hardaway at Memphis, the more optimistic Kentucky fans can be that Calipari might land the No. 1-ranked player in the class.

More:Where UK stands with James Wiseman and the rest of class of 2019 top five

FALLING

Bryan Antoine

Position: Shooting Guard
Hometown: Eatontown, New Jersey
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 12
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 1
What to know: Antoine was originally scheduled to take an official visit to Kentucky last weekend, but he committed to Villanova on Sept. 4.

Kofi Cockburn

Position: Center
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 31
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 9
What to know: There appeared to be mutual interest between UK and Cockburn this summer, but the Wildcats were not on Cockburn’s top-eight list released this week and Calipari appears to have moved on to other big men in his search to replace what could be four departures from the frontcourt from his current roster after the season.

Josh Green

Position: Small forward
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 10
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 3
What to know: Kentucky’s reported interest in Green never materialized into a scholarship offer, and he released a top six of Villanova, UNLV, North Carolina, USC, Kansas and Arizona in August.

DJ Jeffries

Position: Power forward
Hometown: Olive Branch, Mississippi
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 47
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 9
What to know: The chances of Kentucky reuniting with Jeffries, the first recruit to decommit from the program in the Calipari era, evaporated when his dad called the UK staff “unprofessional” in a Memphis radio interview. He has scheduled visits to Memphis, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Alabama.

Jalen Lecque

Position: Combo guard
Hometown: Teaneck, New Jersey
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 29
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 4
What to know: Kentucky’s interest in Lecque appeared to drop off shortly after Calipari extended an offer in April, and the Wildcats were not on the top-seven list Lecque released in August.

Nico Mannion

Position: Point guard
Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 13
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 1
What to know: Kentucky was briefly tied to Mannion after he announced he was moving from the 2020 class to 2019 but he has since committed to Arizona.

THE COMMITMENTS

Dontaie Allen

Position: Small forward
Hometown: Falmouth, Kentucky
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 73
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 20
What to know: The Pendleton County star, now a consensus top-100 prospect, committed to Kentucky on Aug. 2. He is expected to take his official visit to UK for Big Blue Madness on Oct. 12.

Tyrese Maxey

Position: Combo guard
Hometown: Garland, Texas
247Sports Composite National Ranking: No. 11
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: No. 3
What to know: Maxey wrapped up his official visit to Kentucky over the weekend, which led to this fun photoshop from the UK basketball Twitter account of the current team taking in the football win over Mississippi State and one face conveniently obscured to avoid violating NCAA rules.

Kahlil Whitney

Position: Small forward
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
247Sports Composite National Ranking: 7
247Sports Composite Position Ranking: 1
What to know: Kentucky’s most-recent commitment, Whitney has skyrocketed into the top 10 of the 2019 recruiting rankings for each of the three major recruiting services. He is now UK’s top-ranked commit in the 247Sports Composite, which averages the ratings of the major recruiting services.

Jon Hale: jahale@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @JonHale_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/jonh.