The Kentucky basketball program has finished with the No. 1 or No. 2 recruiting class every season of the John Calipari era in Lexington but one. To say recruiting has taken a serious dip in recent years would be disingenuous and inaccurate.
But criticism of the program failing to land its biggest targets in recent years – Paolo Banchero, Jaden Hardy, Cade Cunningham, James Wiseman, RJ Barrett, and Zion Williamson, just to name a few – is valid. UK has landed quality in numbers, but it’s fair to admit the program has come up short when trying to hit home runs.