[Cactus Jack]

Kentucky means just as much now as it ever has.

This year's chalk Final Four seemed to be pretty indicative of the top schools being able to get the best talent through NIL and the transfer portal.

These two statements conflict each other, and also make my point.


Kentucky isnt getting the best talent through NIL and the portal....The name Kentucky, isnt bringing them in......The coach at Kentucky.....wont bring them in, finishing middle of the pack in the SEC will not bring them in, not the top talent.

High School Recruiting Class Rankings (per ESPN in January):

1. Duke
2. Houston
3. Arkansas
4. Kentucky
5. UConn
8. North Carolina
15. Kansas

Rivals has all of those teams still roughly in the same spots and there are few uncommitted players whose movement will drastically shake up the rankings.

Kentucky just signed three guys widely considered to be Top 15-30 in their class regardless which service is ranking them.


Portal rankings will be fluid for awhile given all the attrition, but I expect we end up with one of the Top 25 classes there at minimum. 247 Sports just listed Kentucky as it's current #3 in the Transfer Portal rankings.

Quaintance is a projected lottery pick-- he seems to be the epitome of "the best talent". The Athletic currently has Lowe #14, Quaintance #16, and Kam Williams #27 in their overall portal rankings (which factor in things like positional scarcity).


So if Kentucky isnt getting the top players in high school or from the portal, then who is? And if the name doesn't mean as much anymore, then whose does?