John Calipari, head coach of Kentucky (Photo : Chris Keane/Reuters)
Master recruiter Coach John Calipari declares that he's going for the best freshman class ever in 2016.
After being defeated by Duke in the recruiting in the past two classes (2014 and 2015) Coach John Calipari of Kentucky wants to assemble the best recruiting class ever for 2016.
The legendary coach has set his eyes on all the top 7 ranked recruits in the class, but he already lost out on no.2 ranked forward Jayson Tatum, who chose to commit to Duke.
This setback has made him all the more aggressive.
In an ESPNU College Basketball podcast, he mentioned that he is very impressed with the quality of players in the incoming high school senior class.
"This year's recruiting class, where we're in the middle of right now, could be one of our best ever," Calipari declares. " This could be our best class ever."
He also has a stern reminder: "And that's a pretty scary statement coming from who we've been able to recruit over the last 25 years."
Calipari is one of the best when it comes to evaluating and recruiting talent. Since 2008, he has recruited four NBA first overall picks: Derrick Rose, John Wall, Anthony Davis and this year's Karl Anthony Towns. Kentucky has also had more players picked in the lottery than any other school during that period.
The players on his radar for 2016 are (according to ESPN 100 rank): 6-10 forward Harry Giles III, 6-8 guard-forward Josh Jackson, 6-2 point guard Dennis Smith, Jr, 6-3 guard Malik Monk, 6-5 guard Kobi Simmons and 6-7 forward Miles Bridges.
Together with no.2 Jayson Tatum, they are the top 7 ranked recruits. He also has interest in 7-0 center Thon Maker. Coach Cal also got Jamal Murray, who recently led Team Canada in scoring during the recent Pan Am Games. However, Murray chose to reclassify and play in the 2015-16 season.
Will Coach Cal succeed in assembling the greatest recruiting class ever? He'll cross paths with rival Kansas and other top programs Duke, Arizona, North Carolina and Ohio State for these prized players, but it's hard to bet against Cal's track record.
