It’s hard to get a bigger recruiting event than Kentucky had this past weekend. Midnight Madness festivities don’t get more high-profile than Big Blue Madness, and John Calipari took advantage.
The Wildcats had 10 five-star prospects on campus for Friday’s event, including six in the Class of 2017. Five of the senior visitors were known for the past couple of weeks -- Kevin Knox (No. 7), Nick Richards (No. 12), Trae Young (No. 15), P.J. Washington (No. 16) and Quade Green (No. 22) -- but there was a surprise addition on Friday afternoon, with elite big man Mohamed Bamba (No. 4) taking the trip to Lexington.
Calipari didn’t let that last-minute trip go to waste.
That's it for very brief scrimmage. Calipari got lots of face time with No. 2 overall recruit Mohamed Bamba and crowd got a made Briscoe 3.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_AJC) October 15, 2016
Aside from getting people excited from the season, Big Blue Madness is one big recruiting pitch. Former players come back to visit, Rupp Arena is sold out, there’s sometimes a celebrity or two on hand. Looking at the roster of recruits on hand, at least three of the six five-star seniors could end up at Kentucky.
Kentucky waddup
— LiL AI (@Q_Green1) October 14, 2016
Paul Washington -- father of PJ Washington -- is wearing a UK jacket at courtside. Washington is one of the Cats' biggest targets for 2017.
— Ben Roberts (@BenRobertsHL) October 14, 2016
Big Blue Madness Tonight🔵⚪️ Turn up #BBN
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) October 14, 2016
Big blue Madness tonight🔵⚪️
— Kev‼️ (@kevin_knox23) October 14, 2016
Elsewhere, five-star forward Kris Wilkes (No. 14) is expected to make his decision soon. He’s down to UCLA, Illinois and Indiana, and has taken official visits to all three schools. The Hoosiers received the final official visit the weekend of Sept. 30, but Wilkes showed up on campus again this past weekend.
Five-star 2017 forward Kris Wilkes on an unofficial visit to Indiana today. #iubb pic.twitter.com/wzclyNxBZo
— Jeff Rabjohns (@JeffRabjohns) October 15, 2016
While the Indianapolis native taking the short drive to Bloomington doesn’t signify he will end up a Hoosier, Tom Crean getting another opportunity to make his pitch to Wilkes certainly doesn’t hurt.
Another player making his decision soon will be ESPN 100 forward Ira Lee (No. 69). Lee has been to California, Oregon and Arizona, with his trip to Tucson coming this past weekend for the Red-Blue game.
When he returned home to California, Lee tweeted he was ready to commit.
Decision coming this week 🤘🏽😎
— Ira Lee (@iramandoesit) October 17, 2016
The favorite heading into the week is likely Arizona.