Kentucky’s push in the 2027 class just took a small hit on the trail.
After being linked to a possible visit with 5-star center Darius Wabbington, the Wildcats no longer appear to be getting him to Lexington. Wabbington, a 6-foot-11, 245-pound center from Sunnyslope in Phoenix, Arizona, had been expected to check out Kentucky at some point this fall, but that trip now looks to be off the table.
That matters because Wabbington is one of the heavier hitters in the class. According to the 247 Sports Composite, he sits as a top-15 overall prospect, the No. 3 center in the country and the No. 4 overall player in Arizona. Kentucky offered him after the first live period of the spring, and he had looked like a natural target for Mark Pope’s offense because of his size and skill set.
The visit picture has changed. In June, Wabbington listed Arizona, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina and Texas among his top schools.
He already had official visits lined up for Louisville from Sept. 11-13, Arizona from Sept. 25-27 and Texas from Oct.
9-11. The Kentucky trip was never officially announced, and now Brandon Jenkins of 247 Sports says it has been replaced by an Illinois visit from Oct.
23-25. Wabbington is also scheduled to see Indiana from Sept. 3-5 and North Carolina from Oct.
30-Nov. 1.
Even with that miss, Kentucky’s 2027 board is still packed. The Wildcats have already offered 22 scholarships in the class, and that group includes Ryan Hampton, who is already committed to Kentucky.
The list spans the board, starting with five point guards: Beckham Black of Southeastern Prep, Cayden Daughtry of Calvary Christian Academy, Nasir Anderson of Prolific Prep, Reese Alston of Houston Second Baptist and Jaxson Davis of Monarch Academy.
At shooting guard, Kentucky has offered Jordan Page of IMG Academy and Chase Lumpkin of McEachern. The combo guard group includes Adan Diggs of Millennium, NaVorro Bowman Jr. of Notre Dame and King Gibson of SPIRE Academy.
On the wing, the Wildcats are involved with Demarcus Henry of Compass Prep, Hampton at Rockwall-Heath, Moussa Kamissoko of Long Island Lutheran, Asa Montgomery of Hillgrove and Howard Williams of Dynamic Prep.
The power forward names on the board are CJ Rosser of Southeastern Prep, Dawson Battie of St. Mark’s and Ahmed Nur of Bella Vista Prep.
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