Kentucky remains squarely in the mix for one of the biggest point guard battles in the 2027 class.
Reese Alston, a top-10 prospect and one of the Wildcats’ most heavily prioritized targets, trimmed his list on Monday to seven schools: Kentucky, Louisville, Houston, LSU, Tennessee, Vandy and Wichita State. The Houston native had already been viewed as a major name for Kentucky, and now the race is narrowing with the decision process moving forward.
So far, Alston has taken unofficial visits to Kentucky, Louisville and Wichita State. His trip to Lexington came in October for Big Blue Madness. He is now working through the process of setting up official visits and is expected to line up those trips soon, with Kentucky likely among them.
The recruitment has been building for a while, but Kentucky’s push has clearly intensified over the summer. Mark Pope and assistant Mikhail McLean saw Alston in person at the Puma NXT event in Texas, and the Wildcats’ interest has only grown from there. Kentucky also continues to view Alston as one of its top point guard priorities, alongside Beckham Black.
Louisville has been in the picture just as strongly, and that matchup is beginning to look like the central storyline here. In a recent article, On3’s Jamie Shaw said Kentucky and Louisville are the two schools that come up most often when talking to those around Alston. As Shaw put it, "One source, given where things currently stand, believes the recruitment ultimately comes down to those two schools, with Louisville holding more familiarity within Alston’s circle while Kentucky continues to build its relationship."
For now, the important next step is the official visit phase. Once Alston starts taking those trips, the picture should get a lot clearer.
In Other News...
Kentuckys Push For Mark Mitchell Now Rests On One Eligibility Fight
Mark Mitchells path to a fifth college basketball season has turned into one of those off-court fights that can reshape a roster before anyone ever reaches the floor. The former Missouri forward has a temporary restraining order in Kentucky that keeps him eligible for now, giving him a legal foothold as Kentucky continues to push for help in adding him to the mix. What makes the case so complicated is that the SECs transfer rules still matter here, and they were built to limit intraleague moves to specific NCAA windows.
Greg Sankey has said those rules remain in effect unless changed or waived, and the conference, along with others, opposed Mitchells lawsuit seeking extra eligibility. The NCAAs new five-for-five model begins in 2026-27, but it did not grandfather in players from the high school class of 2022, which leaves Mitchell and others in a gray area as eligibility and transfer rights keep colliding. For Kentucky, the question is no longer just whether Mitchell can play, but whether the legal path stays open long enough to matter. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Just Stayed Alive In A Massive 2027 Recruiting Battle
Kentucky remains squarely in the mix for one of the class of 2027s premier guards, as five-star point guard Reese Alston has included the Wildcats among his top seven college choices. Ranked No. 9 nationally, Alston has drawn heavy attention early in his recruitment, and Kentucky has kept itself involved since extending an offer in October 2025.
Mikhail McLean has been a steady presence in the pursuit, helping Kentucky stay relevant as the race begins to take shape. Louisville currently has the early momentum, but the process is still wide open, with several programs working to separate themselves in what figures to be a long battle for one of the top point guards in the country. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Is Tracking A Rare 7-Foot-2 Prospect Fans Need To Watch
Kentuckys recruiting radar has already started to pick up on a name that fits the modern big-man mold in a very unusual way. Cherif Millogo, a 7-foot-2 center at St. Francis High School in California, has emerged as a top prospect in the 2027 class, and his path to the sport makes him even more intriguing. Originally from Burkina Faso, Millogo did not come to basketball through the usual youth pipeline. He moved from soccer to hoops around age 13 and has grown into a versatile player with a strong shooting touch.
His rise has drawn attention from several major college programs, with Kentucky among the schools keeping tabs as the evaluation process begins to sharpen. Millogo is also being managed by former NBA player Luc Mbah a Moute, who helped arrange his enrollment at St. Francis, adding another layer of experience around a prospect already standing out for his size and skill. For Wildcats fans, he is the kind of long-term name worth filing away now, because players with this mix of frame, background and upside tend to become much harder to ignore once the offers start stacking up. [Read more 🡒]