Kentucky’s recruiting run is picking up steam, and the next big swing comes this weekend.
Five-star class of 2027 prospect AJ Williams will take an official visit to Kentucky, according to Dushawn London of 247Sports. The 6-foot-7 wing from Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in Georgia is ranked as the No. 4 high school senior in the country, and his trip to Lexington arrives right after the Wildcats landed a commitment from 7-foot-5 center Cherif Millogo, whose profile has surged in recent months and who is ranked No. 11 nationally by Rivals.
Williams has already made official visits to Auburn, Mississippi State, Georgia, and BYU. He was also supposed to visit John Calipari’s Arkansas program last weekend, but that trip never happened.
Kentucky’s visit had been circulating as a possibility for the past week or so, and now it’s officially on the calendar. BYU is viewed as the team to beat heading into the Kentucky weekend.
The Wildcats already have two pledges in the 2027 class with Millogo and four-star shooting guard Ryan Hampton, who is ranked No. 27 nationally by Rivals. Kentucky is still chasing a third commitment, and Williams is one of the names on that list. The staff is also involved with CJ Rosser, the No. 3 player in the class, along with 2028 reclass candidates Benji Berrouet, who is No. 3, and Yann Kamagate, who is No. 1, plus others.
After Tuesday night’s season-opening win, Mark Pope made it clear Kentucky is being deliberate about how it attacks this cycle.
“Every year is a unique recruiting cycle. This is a unique recruiting cycle,” Pope said.
“And so we have been really active with the high school freshmen in the fall recruiting period. But it’s got to be the right player, at the right time, at the right price.
“And we are trying to be smart and disciplined with our decision-making. And I am really confident that we are going to end up exactly where we want to be.
We are being incredibly intentional about this. I wish we could talk about everything we are doing with recruiting, but we can’t.
But I like where we are right now and I like how we are going about it.”
There’s no publicly known commitment date or timeline for Williams, but Kentucky now has a real chance to make a move this weekend.
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For the Wildcats, this is the kind of official visit that can change the tone of a pursuit quickly if the fit feels right. Williams is expected to keep taking more trips before making a final decision, so Kentucky still has work to do, but getting him in Lexington now gives the staff a real chance to make a lasting impression while the race remains open. [Read more 🡒]
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The early returns were especially encouraging because Hawthorne did more than simply fill a box score. He looked comfortable defending, made plays as a passer and showed the kind of upside that has teammates talking about his ceiling, even if his outside shot is still a work in progress. For Kentucky, that kind of debut is the sort that can turn a promising newcomer into a real reason for optimism. [Read more 🡒]