Kentucky MBB will host two more 5-star recruits this week

Recruiting efforts continue to heat up for Mark Pope and the Kentucky men’s basketball coaching staff.

The Wildcats are in the midst of hosting a dozen of the nation’s best high school seniors for official visits. It started with five-star center Sayon Keita in late July and will continue through the weekend of Big Blue Madness (Oct. 10-12). But outside of BBM, which is expected to be a massive recruiting event for Pope and Co., this week is the most important stretch of the year for luring in top talent to Lexington.

Five-star wing Anthony Thompson (No. 6 overall) got the ball rolling this week, starting his official visit with Kentucky on Tuesday. We already went over what his recruitment looks like. UK is battling the likes of Ohio State, Indiana, and Michigan for Thompson’s services. The ‘Cats had some ground to make up going into his OV — we’ll see if the staff was able to make that happen once Thompson wraps up his trip and intel begins to leak out.

But two more five-star recruits are also expected to be in Lexington over the coming days.

Christian Collins is next to arrive

6-foot-8 wing Christian Collins moved up his official visit with Kentucky from early October to this week. He is actually scheduled to arrive on campus sometime Thursday, reports Jacob Polacheck of KSR+. Collins, who lives in California, is ranked No. 8 overall in the 2026 cycle.

Kentucky coaches offered Collins back in April following an in-home visit. Assistant coach Jason Hart, who has plenty of ties to the Golden State, has been in contact with Collins and his family for over a year now. Pope served as one of Collins’ assistant coaches during this summer’s USA Basketball trials in Colorado Springs. Both Hart and Pope visited him in California earlier this month.

“[Pope] is like a proud dad,” Collins told KSR+ in July. “He’ll be recording you and he’s cheering for you. He’s a really good guy. He has nice energy. He’s really positive.”

So far, Collins has only taken official visits to Southern California and Oregon, both happening since August. UK will be his third OV. No other potential trips have been announced yet. This recruitment has been kept relatively quiet, but recent intel suggests Kentucky is in a good spot with a decision potentially coming in the fall. This visit could be an important one in the long run.

Cam Williams will be a weekend visitor

Arriving a little bit after Collins will be five-star Cam Williams, a 6-foot-11 power forward out of Arizona who is ranked No. 7 overall in his class. Williams is scheduled to take his Kentucky official visit from Friday through Sunday. The Wildcats are new to this recruitment, but the staff is gaining ground quickly.

Kentucky didn’t get seriously involved with Williams until the summer. Pope and a couple of assistants kept close tabs on him during his summer on the adidas 3SSB circuit with the Compton Magic (where he was teammates with Bruce Branch III, the No. 1 2027 prospect). Pope and Hart called Williams on a random night in July to offer him, which quickly led to him setting up this official visit.

So far, Williams has taken recent trips to SMU, Texas, and Purdue, with visits to Duke, Southern California, and Arizona still to come. Like Collins, this recruitment hasn’t been highly publicized. The hometown Arizona Wildcats is a school to keep a close eye on, but Kentucky is lurking.