Livingston, Wallace finish in the top 20 of Rivals, ESPN rankings

The final recruiting rankings for the class of 2022 are starting to roll out, with ESPN and Rivals both releasing their latest updates on Wednesday. Kentucky’s duo of five-star signees, Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston, both finished as top-20 prospects in the final releases.

Rivals actually has the future Wildcats both listed inside the top 10, with Wallace coming in at No. 7 overall and Livingston at No. 10. The former is rated as the No. 1 shooting guard in the class, while the latter is ranked No. 4 overall among small forwards. Kentucky is one of two teams with at least two players in the top 10, with Duke (three) being the other.

You can see Rivals’ complete top 25 below:

Dariq Whitehead (Duke)
Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas)
Dereck Lively (Duke)
Dillon Mitchell (Texas)
Kyle Filipowski (Duke)
Kel’el Ware (Oregon)
Cason Wallace (Kentucky)
Keyonte George (Baylor)
Cam Whitmore (Villanova)
Chris Livingston (Kentucky)
Jarace Walker (Houston)
Amari Bailey (UCLA)
Julian Phillips (Undecided)
Arterio Morris (Texas)
Vincent Iwuchukwu (USC)
Brandon Miller (Alabama)
Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana)
Yohan Traore (Auburn)
Anthony Black (Arkansas)
Mark Mitchell (Duke)
J.J. Starling (Notre Dame)
Adem Bona (UCLA)
Tyrell Ward (Undecided)
Jordan Walsh (Arkansas)
Malik Reneau (Indiana)

Interested in the full Rivals150? Click here.

As for ESPN, things got a little wonky, for lack of a better word. Both future Wildcats slipped outside the top 10, with Wallace — the 2021 Nike EYBL MVP — falling all the way to No. 20 overall. Livingston came in at No. 12, good for No. 5 among small forwards.

Dereck Lively (Duke)
Dariq Whitehead (Duke)
Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas)
Dillon Mitchell (Texas)
Amari Bailey (UCLA)
Keyonte George (Baylor)
Kyle Filipowski (Duke)
Kel’el Ware (Oregon)
Brandon Miller (Alabama)
Jarace Walker (Houston)
Jordan Walsh (Arkansas)
Chris Livingston (Kentucky)
Julian Phillips (Undecided)
Gradey Dick (Kansas)
Anthony Black (Arkansas)
Adem Bona (UCLA)
Arterio Morris (Texas)
J.J. Starling (Notre Dame)
Jaden Bradley (Alabama)
Cason Wallace (Kentucky)
Cameron Whitmore (Villanova)
Malik Reneau (Indiana)
Ernest Udeh (Kansas)
Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana)
Skyy Clark (Illinois)

The update comes immediately after the Jordan Brand Classic, where both Wallace and Livingston were clear standouts in the competitive practices and the game itself. Livingston led the way with 21 points (8-16 FG, 2-5 3PT), eight rebounds and three steals, while Wallace added 15 points (6-11 FG, 3-3 FT), four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

You can find ESPN’s complete rankings here.

On3 is in the process of updating its final rankings for the class of 2022. Until then, you can find the previous update here.