John Calipari has landed the number one recruiting class again. He has been known to get top caliber recruits to commit to Kentucky. From Anthony Davis who currently made history last Sunday for being one of only a few players to score more than 30 points in the first game of the NBA playoffs, to NBA standout John Wall.
Calipari has been targeting some of the best high school players in the country including Mali native, Cheick Diallo. He currently attends high school in New York at Our Savior New American School. Last Sunday, Calipari headed to New York to meet five-star recruit Diallo. Diallo was also the camp roommate to the Third Team Naismith All-American, Skal Labissiere, who has already committed to UK.
Diallo is a power forward standing at 6-foot-9, 225-pounds. What make him such a dynamic player and a great fit for the Kentucky program is his height and tremendous athletic ability. He finishes well around the basket and can also play exceptionally good defense. Diallo knows how to play tough and can play well with his back to the basket. He just recently finished playing in the Jordan’s Brand Classic in New York. He was named MVP of that tournament.
According to ESPN, Diallo is ranked as the 7th best recruit in the country. He is still in the process of deciding which school he wants to attend. He is considering Kentucky among a plethora of other great basketball programs including Kansas, St. Johns, and Iowa State.
Calipari’s dedication and commitment to make UK’s basketball program great has shown though his ability to recruit. He has done some of the best college basketball recruiting over the past few years. Many coaches and sports analyst have stated they do not know how Calipari recruits so well. Maybe it’s his candor that he is known for and his great coaching ability. Coach Calipari has said that while recruiting players he makes it clear that he doesn’t make any promises about playing time. He expects his players to play hard every game and has made it known that if a player is not willing to play hard, they will be taken out of the game, as many of us saw during the 2015 NCAA basketball tournament.
Calipari is arguably one of the best coaches in college basketball and has been able to turn standout high school talent into great NBA players.
Calipari also awaits decisions from five-star recruits Thon Maker, Brandon Ingram and Jaylen Brown; while Skal Labissiere, Isaiah Briscoe, and Charles Matthews have already committed to Kentucky.