Saturday at Kentucky is shaping up as a busy one, and not just because No. 12 Alabama is coming to Kroger Field for the SEC opener. Mark Pope’s basketball program will have its own spotlight, with two highly regarded center prospects on campus for visits to Lexington.
The headliner is five-star 2027 big man Lewis Uvwo, a 6-foot-11 rim protector whose visit to Kentucky starts Friday. Uvwo, who plays at Florida’s Prolific Prep, is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 7 overall player in the 2027 class and the top center in the country. That ranking reflects a big summer climb for Uvwo, who was previously barely inside the top 100 in his class.
Kentucky offered Uvwo in May and has stayed heavily involved while he worked the Nike AAU circuit. The Nigeria native put up 10.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 blocks per game this spring and summer with Nightrydas in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. His length - nearly a 7-6 wingspan - and feel around the rim helped him lead the EYBL in blocks while also finishing as a top-10 rebounder on the circuit.
This trip to Lexington is just the latest stop in a packed recruiting run. Uvwo has already visited Baylor and California over the last two weeks, and he is scheduled to visit Providence next weekend.
He’s also one of five centers in the 2027 class with a Kentucky offer, and the Wildcats are still in the mix for four of them: Cherif Millogo, Akol Nyok, Paul Osaruyi and Uvwo. That position remains a major focus for UK, especially with an eye toward the 2027-28 season if Malachi Moreno leaves for the professional ranks after the 2026-27 campaign.
Uvwo isn’t making the trip alone. Kentucky is also hosting Mason Grivna, a class of 2029 standout from Louisville who attends Ballard High School. The 6-foot-11 sophomore has not been offered by UK yet, but the interest is clearly there.
Grivna is already drawing attention nationally. On3 lists him as a four-star recruit and the No. 20 overall player in the 2029 class, while ESPN has him at No.
- 247Sports has not yet released rankings for that class.
He comes from a strong local sports background, too. His father, Mark, played offensive line for Louisville football from 1997-99, and his mother, Jessica, was a center for the Louisville women’s basketball team from 1995-98. His older sister, Ella, is now a freshman middle blocker at South Carolina.
As a freshman at Ballard, Grivna averaged 16.7 points and 9.1 rebounds for a Bruins team that went 23-7 and fell to eventual Sweet 16 runner-up St. Xavier in the 7th Region championship game. He also made the MaxPreps freshman All-America second team and knocked down 18 3-pointers at a 45.0% clip.
His father described his game this spring by saying, “He’s got a very high IQ on the basketball court,” Grivna’s father, Mark, told the Herald-Leader about Mason in April. “...
He works hard. He’s a great rim protector.
He can score at all three levels, too. He’s doing well in all aspects of the game.
He does a lot of the other aspects of it, other than scoring, really well.”
Grivna spent this spring and summer playing on both the 15-and-under and 17-and-under teams for Wildcat Select on the Adidas AAU circuit. In eight games with the 15-and-under group, he averaged 20.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks. After moving up to the 17-and-under team, he posted 10.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks across 10 games.
Kentucky is one of six schools on Grivna’s upcoming unofficial-visit schedule. After Lexington, he plans to visit Purdue, South Carolina, Louisville, Indiana and Ohio State this fall. He already made an unofficial trip to Louisville over the summer, and his scholarship list includes Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Ohio State, Purdue and Texas Tech, among others.
In Other News...
Kentuckys New Offense Just Unlocked A Weapon Fans Havent Seen Enough
Will Stein wasted little time putting his stamp on Kentuckys offense, and one of the clearest signs came through the tight end room. In the season opener, three tight ends combined for nine catches, 140 yards and two touchdowns, a workload and production level that stood out sharply from what the Wildcats had leaned on in recent years under Mark Stoops. It was the kind of shift that gives an offense a different shape, especially for a team trying to find more answers in the passing game.
The encouraging part for Kentucky is that this did not look like a one-off wrinkle. Players and coaches praised the tight ends performance and pointed to their value as real pieces of the system, which suggests Stein sees them as more than just check-down options or red-zone targets. If that usage holds, it could change the way defenses have to prepare for the Wildcats, and it may only be the beginning of how often these weapons show up. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Just Landed A Huge Big Blue Madness Recruiting Opportunity
Big Blue Madness is still a little ways off, but Kentucky already has one of the nights biggest recruiting storylines in place. The Wildcats are set to open the basketball season on Oct. 2, and five-star power forward CJ Rosser is expected to be there, giving Mark Popes staff a prime chance to put Kentucky in front of one of the elite prospects in the 2027 class.
Rosser, ranked No. 2 nationally by 247Sports, brings the kind of profile Kentucky has long targeted at the frontcourt: a 6-foot-10 forward with versatile skills and plenty of upside. He has visits lined up with several schools, but the chance to see the program in one of its most electric settings gives the Wildcats an important early opportunity to make their case and keep building momentum in a recruitment that figures to stay closely watched. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Heads Into Alabama Opener With Big Availability Questions
The first SEC test of the season is already taking shape as both Kentucky and Alabama sort through a long list of availability concerns heading into their Week 2 matchup. The second report of the week left each side dealing with significant uncertainty, with Alabama carrying several players on the out or doubtful lists and Kentucky also trying to piece together who will be ready for a road opener that suddenly looks a lot more complicated than a standard conference debut.
For Kentucky, the biggest concern is the mix of uncertainty along the offensive line and in the secondary, the kind of personnel questions that can change both protection plans and coverage looks in a hurry. Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer has already pointed to the Wildcats' offensive front and his familiarity with Will Stein's schemes, which only adds to the intrigue as both teams try to keep their cards close and survive the week with as many healthy bodies as possible. [Read more 🡒]