Blackmon Race Narrows and Other Notes

 

As reported earlier this week on KSR, James Blackmon reportedly pushed his decision date back to an undisclosed date. This date is likely allowing Blackmon to take a final visit to Indiana before he makes his decision. Blackmon is a decommit from IU, which makes this development incredibly intriguing towards his recruitment. Blackmon is thought to be a heavy UK lean with UK holding a 92% lead on the 24/7 Sports Crystal Ball. Personally, I did not buy into the possibility of a close recruiting battle between UK and IU until this retweet by Blackmon.

I sincerely hope IU gets this James Blackmon jr kid! #iubb

— A.J. Guyton (@ajguyton) October 15, 2013

If you do not know, AJ Guyton is an IU legend from the Bobby Knight days. With that in mind, this could be a sign of respect to a basketball great. On the pessimistic side, one could believe Blackmon is having thoughts about renewing his commitment to IU. To be fair, Blackmon has had several tweets regarding Kentucky since that tweet, but it appears to be a closer race than anticipated by most people. With Blackmon visiting for Big Blue Madness, it was thought to be done deal that Blackmon would announce for UK soon after. While he could very well still announce his commitment to Kentucky, it may take longer than most analysts assumed just a week ago.

Other Recruiting Notes:

– The list of recruits for Big Blue Madness is simply astounding. The 2014 recruits in attendance have been well documented, but the 2015 and 2016 attendants are just as impressive. Jayson Tatum, Josh Langford, and Kobi Simmons are coming from the 2016 class. Tatum and Langford are both in the top 15 in their class according to multiple recruiting websites.

– Of course, the highest priority at Big Blue Madness is 5-star wing Stanley Johnson. Arizona tried hard to score an early commitment from Johnson before his UK visit, much like Kansas successfully did with Oubre. Luckily, Johnson held out and will definitely visit Kentucky for the first time this weekend. Johnson is the key to Calipari’s class as he appears to be the only small forward option left for Calipari (ruling out Justice Winslow). While Johnson has visited USC and Arizona multiple times, he has never been in Kentucky which could actually help UK since he will witness an amazing recruiting pitch on Big Blue Weekend.

-A few recruits that were rumored to attend BBM will not be in attendance. Luke Kennard, 2015 SG with UK offer, is the QB of his high school football game so he will not be able to attend. Braxton Blackwell and Quentin Goodin were rumored attendants, but multiple outlets have confirmed they are unable to attend.

@JayHochKSR