Kentucky set to visit No. 2 prospect Dereck Lively II on Thursday

John Calipari isn’t slowing down on the recruiting trail anytime soon. Immediately after picking up a commitment from No. 1 overall prospect Shaedon Sharpe, the UK coaching staff has scheduled an in-person visit with No. 2 recruit Dereck Lively II.

Kentucky is set to visit the 7-foot-2 center when off-campus recruiting restrictions are lifted Thursday morning. UK joins Penn State, Michigan and Duke to have in-person visits scheduled this week at Lively’s school, Westtown High School.

Kentucky will be the first to visit Lively on Thursday, followed by Penn State later in the day. Michigan will be in Friday, followed by Duke on Saturday.

KSR was the first to report the news.

Kentucky will be in to see No. 2 overall prospect Dereck Lively on Thursday, his mother tells KSR.

Duke, Michigan and Penn State also scheduled to see Lively to close out the week.

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) September 8, 2021

This is the first time off-campus recruiting has been permitted since March of 2020. Coaches were allowed to make off-campus evaluations starting June 1, but in-person contact was restricted beyond campus visits throughout the summer.

The Westtown, PA native trimmed his list down to seven in June, with Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Penn State, Michigan, Florida State, and USC making the cut. He also received an offer from the G League in August.

Lively is ranked No. 1 overall by 247Sports, No. 2 by On3 and ESPN, and No. 3 by Rivals. The five-star prospect is the consensus No. 1 center in the nation.

Come on down.