By LARRY VAUGHT
Probably nothing should surprise anyone when it comes to John Calipari and recruiting at Kentucky.
After all, he has already had two straight No. 1 recruiting classes and now he seems a lock to have a third straight with the addition of power forward Kyle Wiltjer, Oregon’s top player who has helped his high school team win back-to-back Class AAAAAA state championships.
Wiltjer, who has not visited Kentucky, announced during halftime of Saturday’s Boost Mobile Elite 24 game on ESPN U that wanted to play for Calipari and Kentucky even though he was a huge recruiting target for nearby Gonzaga.
He has been called the most skilled power forward in the country by some recruiting analysts and is a versatile offensive player who should fit perfectly into Calipari’s dribble-drive offense. Scout.com has his ranked as the nation’s 19th best player. The 6-9 Wiltjer averaged 16.5 points per game last year.
I was at a local high school football bowl doubleheader when I got word that Wiltjer had surprised almost everyone by joining UK’s loaded 2011 class that includes Chicago center Anthony Davis, Philadelphia swingman Mike Gilchrist and Indianapolis guard Marquis Teague.
Wiltjer reportedly had narrowed his choices to Kentucky, Wake Forest, Cal, Gonzaga and Texas. He was also heavily recruited by Kansas and Georgia Tech. He had 20 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in Saturday night’s game.
“I felt I was ready, and it was a good basketball fit,†Wiltjer told FOXSports.com. “They have a great recruiting class coming in. I really wanted to surround myself with the best players in the country, so I can push myself every day in practice. Calipari has done a great job in the past, and my time was ready. I can play on the wing or in the post, and their system is a very good fit because they have so many dribble penetrators that it will open me up.
Wiltjer is described by Scout.com as a hybrid forward with a legitimate touch from the perimeter and the ability to play inside.
26 Responses to Wiltjer’s commitment locks up another No. 1 class for Calipari
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Thanks Larry for this post. This news is shaking the college basketball world to its very foundations.
They are finally coming to the realization that the tremors they felt 16 months ago has indeed produced a college basketball tsunami, and the waves are now reaching their shores.
http://bigbluefans4uk.com/Calipari%20Era/Images/The_Big_Blue_Wave_Is_Coming_Modified.jpg
Seems like I have said this before, Guess What I have! WELCOME to BBN KYLE Wiltjer and Mr.& Mrs. Wiltjer, happy to know Kyle will be wearing the Blue and White.
WOW! ! ! And the rich get richer. Cal is flat out getting it done. He is EARNING every penny and then some of that big paycheck. That young man will be blown away when he finaly gets to Lexington. I bet he will be at BBM! !
It seems to me that we are recruiting around Q Miller. I will be surprised to see him choose UK with two 6-9 kids already committed. But with Cal anything is possible! ! !
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! GO BLUE AND GET READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL! ! !
Larry Vaught said on WLAP this morning that Calipari has denied requests from 2 top 10 prospects to come to this year’s BBM. I suspect that the two are Miller and Wroten, but Larry did not mention any names.
The point is that Miller will end up at Louisville along with his buddy as a package.
When it gets to the point that you start turning away top ten prospects you’re up to the level Rupp was at back in the late 40′s and early 50′s. And I doubt Cal has a sugar daddy financing the team the way Sam Gilbert did for UCLA. Cal is going to be looked at as the greatest recruiter in history the way he’s going. I’m surprised he hasn’t signed the number one team for 2012 yet. Give him a month and he’ll have that locked up too. I have no doubt he’s already working on it.
This is going to make it really hard for me to make the 2011 roster. Which is said because I’ve really been working on my fouling.
So Cal turned down 2 top ten recruits, so it had to be Q Miller and T Wroten. Kyle looks like a well rounded player with the desire to learn, def a good fit for the bbn!! He will be loved by all. Welcome down to the BBN Kyle.
Wroten isn’t top 10…Miller I would believe not sure of the other…but if they were generalizing it could have been those 2…thaey are surely being left out in the cold as far as next years class goes…with Wiltjer we now have 13 schollies given out for next year,,,I dont see another going off the board until after we are sure who is going to be taking their game to the next level.
It’s really great to see a top recruit rely on the word given to him by UK’s Terence Jones and surely the influence by Coach Payne about coming to Kentucky to play his college basketball. Having four verbal commitments with the possibility of adding one or two more verbals by next year could be more than the BBN can stand. If we were fortunate to include maybe Daniels and/or Beheman to this 2011 recruiting class would be fantastic….imagine having 5 to 6 guys outta the top 20 to 25 listings come to the UK Wildcats next year…don’t pinch me just yet.
I think Cal will sign 2 more guys. It looks like he is recruiting mostly big men with multiple talents. With Lamb, Miller, Liggings and Gilchrist all capable of playing the 2 or 3 spot Cal seems to be concentrating on the 4-5 with guys that can cover a 5 but with a 3-4 skill set. I would like to see Behanan join this class.
Also Prof I agree with you about Q Miller. But still not sure if pimptino can seal the deal!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. GO BLUE AND RIDE THE WAVE! ! !
It is phenomenal what Cal has done
WOW! It’s time to realize that the COMBINATION of Cal + Kentucky is changing modern recruiting. The big-mo is definitely with us. Let’s not mess it up.
Another day, another #1 class at Kentucky. Yawn!
Just kidding–this is fantastic, and hard to believe that just in the past few years we Cats fans were wondering if we’d get any top 100 recruits, much less any recruits in the top 25. Of course, that was BC (before Cal).
It is amazing. Don’t know what else to say
Wiltjer reminds me very much of Dan Issel when he was freshman. I live about 20 miles from Poplar Bluff,MO and Wiltjer is a better offensive player right now than Hansbrough was when he was a senior in highschool.
I see no need of recruiting more players for next year. Surely Lamb and Poole and Miller will be back next year.
The player that I am concerned with now is Kanter. With Kanter Kentucky is a final four team for sure. Without Kanter final eight might be a good thing.
What? 2012 isn’t locked up yet? Jeez Cal. You are slacking.
Larry, this is off the subject of this article, but whatever became of the Eric Bledsoe eligibility issue. It was headline news for a couple of weeks, and now I haven’t heard anything for a couple of monts.
Well now, I guess I should have read this one first, answered some of my questions! However, did you see the pic of Wiltjer with Bledsoe and Wall after the games with his co-MVP award? How is that for PR? Can you imagine what must be going through his mind. I hope John and Eric gave him some good pointers on how to keep the BBN happy! If this kid is anything at all like Issel we are in for another great ride if he develops like Issel did. NashvilleCat, I heard there is a team at that ‘other’ school that could be looking for players, maybe you could play there…sabatage their play book and locker room while you are there! Word of warning, we might not always have the #1 recruiting class year after year, maybe 2 or 3 and we might even drop off the radar. Just enjoy it while it last. I hope UK gives Cal a big old bonus this year. After all that ‘other’ coach got $5 mil for doing nothing, look what Cal has done in the short time he has been at UK! GO CATS!
I too, wonder if there’s been any movement on the Bledsoe eligibility question, also if there’s any more information tied to the Davis allegations from the Sun-Times. Time for a follow up story, Mr. Vaught?
Nothing new on either count. Basically, both have apparently become non-stories
@Jack, HA!
I watched some clips of this kid, he has great soft hands. He can bang down low and shoot the three. Hes athletic enough. He is supposed to be a really good passer ]but i wasn’t able to see that in the clips i saw. I’m wonder between him, Davis, and Vargas will Cal bring in another 5 or another PG. You have to assume Knight will be gone. i hope not, but i hoped Wall and Bledsoe would stay too and look how that turned out. Any idea Larry on what the game plan is for the rest of the class?
I think Miller now ends up at UL with his buddy gettin his shot put back in his face by Davis…they say he is a tremendous defender and shot blocker. But Cal will not take 2 more commits, I see one more and that being in the spring when he sees who is leaving and who is staying…so he could take 2. But I really think he is holding out for Trevor Lacey, not another big. If he gets Lacey, he’s probably done. But as we have learned with Cal, you never know. I just think it’s crazy landing 3 straight #1 classes. Hey Larry, in the modern era of recruiting, do you know if that has ever been done by 1 coach and 1 school?
Beth, I tried to find something but couldn’t but I bet Larry will. However, Rupp did have a lot of classes that were ranked, if they were ranked way back then. I did find two websites for top recruiting classes of the past. None of the schools listed are mentioned more than once, thus far. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=jn-tophoopsclasses052909
http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/2009/06/top-five-ncaa-basketball-recruiting-classes-of-all-time/
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http://larrygloverlive.com/2010/08/24/tuesdays-show-64/
This is audio of Larry Glover’s interview of Greg Doyel, and Doyel talks about the Sun Times story about the Davis recruitment. Doyel believes the Sun Times’ source is Illinois coach
Start around the 18 minute mark.
Doyel says “I do believe that preps writer, and I don’t know him at all and wouldn’t know him if I saw him, but I do believe that guy is tied to Illinois, the University of Illinois, and I do believe that Weber [pause] IF anybody’s behind this, Weber’s behind it, because he doesn’t lose very well.” Then he goes on to poke fun at Weber’s recruiting, calls him a “dork” and says that Weber “loses recruits left and right” and that Weber’s coat of arms should read “Bruce weber colon [:] losing recruits like a son of a gun since 1999.”
Doyel also emphasizes that he does not believe there are 3 D1 coaches who said that Davis was for sale. Doyel is convinced of that because because the best reporters in the biz couldn’t even find one D1 coach who would state on or off the record that Davis was for sale. “I think frankly he [Weber] just fed something to the reporter and the reporter bought it hook line and sinker and here we are”.
If you want to listen for yourself, download “hour 2″ and then scan ahead if you can’t listen t the entire interview.
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