Insider Notes: Things are heating up with Oscar Tshiebwe and a Memphis nugget

I hope you folks had a great weekend and are ready for football season! KSR will have you covered with football coverage all season, but especially this week as we finally have meaningful sporting events back in the news. However, basketball recruiting never stops. UK has three committed players in 2019 but the attention remains on the Cats’ frontcourt targets. There is no hotter name than Oscar Tshiebwe. That’s where we’ll start this Monday.

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— Big O (@Oscartshiebwe34) August 26, 2018

Oscar Tshiebwe: He’s down to four and the Cats have made the cut despite no offer, but if he wanted to commit it’s not like UK’s staff would say, “Well, we actually haven’t offered yet.” The Cats want to make the offer special, so maybe they will do it when he visits Sept. 28th-30th. I’m guessing it happens before the official visit and I’d feel confident about it being when UK visits him in a few weeks for an in-home.

Also, I’ve really had my nose to the ground lately and found out how to pronounce his name- Shoob-way (his coach confirmed the following day) Hard hitting stuff that I should have known the day we started writing about him, but it seems like there was some confusion on how to actually pronounce it. When Evan Daniels didn’t know the correct way I lost all hope, but we’ve been told it’s Chee-ahb-way so that’s what we’ll roll with at KSR.

UK will have the third official visit. He will first checkout Baylor this weekend and Illinois the following weekend. He will then take a break for two weeks before checking out Lexington and then the Mountaineers, the favorites, get the last official visit on October 5th. Everything I’ve heard is that this will comedown to UK and West Virginia. He has a good relationship with the staffs at Baylor and Illinois (what’s up, Antigua) but West Virginia has been on Oscar the longest and that staff has done a tremendous job in his recruitment. However, it’s hard to ignore UK, even if the Cats are late to the party. I’ve heard that Oscar has always followed UK and I wasn’t told it’s his dream school, but when the Cats started recruited him supposedly things changed in his recruitment. I’d also keep an eye on when UK visits him. It can sometimes be a glimpse into UK’s priority list.

I still think UK has a lot of work to do. It may be a head vs. heart decision for the 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward from Hermitage, Pa., (originally from Virginia). West Virginia is close to home and was his first scholarship offer. I’ve been told that Oscar will be announcing in the fall, so this is a huge couple months for UK. If the Cats can get Oscar on board then it takes a lot of pressure off UK for other bigs in the class. I still think UK is top two for Carey Jr., Wiseman and Hurt, but there’s still a chance the Cats could finish second in all those recruitments. I doubt that happens, but there’s a chance. If Oscar joins the fold then the Cats would really only HAVE to get one more big. UK has to have two in 2019, but three would be ideal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA4xJaF87hw

Jaden McDaniels: There’s some scuttle that he will be cutting his list soon, and while I don’t have much on McDaniels, I still don’t see a scenario he ends up in Lexington. Months ago UK was contacting him every so often (maybe once a week) and I’ve been told things haven’t picked up (and maybe completely stopped?). I do find it interesting that Kansas, UK, Duke and UNC aren’t major players in this recruitment. I’m not sure what to make of it, but everyone seems to think he will go to San Diego State (where his brother Jalen plays) or Washington (the hometown school). I get asked about McDaniels often but there isn’t much there between him and Kentucky.

Memphis: There is plenty of discussion down in Memphis that the Tigers are desperately trying to work out a home-and-home with Kentucky, and I think it could have happened if Memphis didn’t hose over John Calipari. You may remember when Calipari was inducted into The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Memphis had planned to honor Calipari before one of the Tigers’ home games in 2015. After backlash from media and fans, Memphis cancelled the event just a few months before the event.

That didn’t sit well with John Calipari.

I’d be shocked if UK were to play a home-and-home with Memphis because of this. I haven’t had anyone tell me that this is the specific reason, but UK’s happy with its schedule. The CBS Sports Classic, Champions Classic, SEC/Big 12 Challenge guarantee three great games. Louisville makes No. 4 in the out of conference. Remember, UK only plays 13 out-of-conference games. As the SEC continues to improve the Cats can’t have half its non-conference games against tricky Power Six opponents.

Memphis knows that being in “scheduling” discussions with UK shows legitimacy. Don’t buy it.

As for James Wiseman, I haven’t heard anything new this week. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of a visit to UK soon and the Cats are still going after him. This will likely head into the spring and Memphis still has the buzz from everything I can gather.

Tyler Herro: I’m not sure why this surprises me because Herro put on a show in the Bahamas, but I was told that Herro is further along than Malik Monk and Jamal Murray during this point of their freshmen seasons. Now, that’s a great headline but allow me to slam on the brakes. Briefly. I was told to mention that all three are different players and score in different ways. I was also reminded that Monk and Murray didn’t get a summer trip. Murray reclassified, too. It should make sense that Herro is further along, although Murray and Monk were ranked higher.

However, Monk and Murray were studs in college. Personally, there are maybe only two or three players I enjoyed watching more at UK in the John Calipari than Murray/Monk. I prefer scorers, so I’m biased, but having a three-point threat that could go off for 30+ any given night was a blast. I’m told Herro fits that mold and will be UK’s best scorer this season.

So, allow this to add to the unreal hype Herro has received since the Bahamas trip. While I normally throw water on this kind of “Matt Pilgrim is a beast” talk, we’ve actually seen Herro do it against grown men. Just remember, A Herro can Save Us.