Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
With all of the rumors circulating lately about high school senior Andrew Wiggins‘ college destination, one school seems to be sticking out compared to the rest.
The Kentucky Wildcats are easily a favorite to land the superstar recruit that is widely regarded as the best high school basketball player in the nation. He has narrowed his list down to four schools: North Carolina, Kansas, Florida State and, of course, Kentucky.
Coach John Calipari has assembled one of the best recruiting classes in recent memory, maybe even the best class of all time. The Wildcat coach has assembled eight recruits already for the 2013 class, including six five-stars and two three-stars.
Some schools don’t even get six five-stars in its entire program’s history, but the Wildcats have six in one year. Six. That is not a typo.
With the addition of Wiggins, that would make seven five-stars, and all of them happen to be in the top-20 in the entire country (per Rivals.com). It’s unheard of for a school to get this many top prospects, or even nine commitments in one offseason for that matter, but when you have a program like Kentucky that breeds one-and-dones, this can become quite common.
However, recent news has come out that Wiggins has cancelled his in-home visits with Kansas, North Carolina and Florida State this week. Is this news, or just a kid burnt out on recruiting overload?
Been told Andrew Wiggins has canceled his home visits with Kansas, UNC and Florida State early this week.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS) April 22, 2013
Either way, Kentucky was not mentioned on that list, meaning that he could possibly be considering the commitment to Calipari and the Wildcats soon.
This would be a mistake for the top prospect. While many players, including Nerlens Noel, have decided to leave Kentucky for the NBA Draft this summer, Wiggins would have to share the spotlight with six other top players, including some who are returning from the 2012-13 season.
For a No. 1 overall player to have to deal with maybe not even being the best player on his team (or even the best recruit in his team’s class) will not make for an easy or smooth transition.
It could very well happen that the Wildcats win the title next season with all of the talent they are set to accrue, but it could also happen the way it did this season — the Wildcats missing the NCAA Tournament with four of the top-40 recruits in the land, including three five-stars.
No matter where Wiggins goes, he will see some success, but if he wants to come in and produce in large amounts right away, Kentucky is not the right place to go.
Connor Muldowney is a columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Connormuldowney, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
