The college basketball world was turned upside down on April 7, when news broke that John Calipari is finalizing a deal to become the University of Arkansas‘ new head coach.
Calipari’s Kentucky exit — which was first announced by The Athletic’s Shams Charania — will directly effect the No. 2 ranked 2024 recruiting class Kentucky had.
The Athletic noted how, when Calipari left the University of Memphis for the University of Kentucky in 2009, his legendary recruiting class (which included John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins) all went to Kentucky with him.
Now insiders are speculating that Kentucky’s stacked 2024 recruiting class (which includes three McDonald’s All-Americans) might do the same.
Here’s what you need to know about which Kentucky commits might be playing for Arkansas next season:
McDonald’s All-Americans Among Most Likely Kentucky Commits to Leave
Arkansas’ rivals.com page released a report on April 8 which analyzed who of Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class are most likely to decommit.
The two players they believe are most likely to leave Kentucky are each 2024 McDonald’s All-Americans.
The first is Karter Knox.
“For Knox, a major chunk of the Kentucky allure was Calipari, who helped his older brother, Kevin Knox, become a lottery pick at the school years ago.” Rivals’ Rob Cassidy wrote. “Because of that, he seems decently likely to re-open his process.”
Knox only committed to Kentucky on March 9. He’s also one of two commits who haven’t signed their National Letter of Intent yet, which makes the decommitment process much easier.
Knox seems highly likely to end up at Arkansas next season.
The second most likely Kentucky commit to leave is Jayden Quiantance.
Quiantance is also a McDonald’s All-American, Kentucky’s top-ranked recruit, and the No. 2 center in the entire 2024 recruiting class, according to 247sports.com.
“Arkansas feels like a particularly large threat here should Calipari try to take [Quiantance] along.” Cassidy wrote.
Also of note is that Quaintance is only 16 years old. That makes him only NBA draft eligible in 2026, which means that he’s guaranteed two college seasons.
Therefore, he’d probably prefer to play for a coach he’s comfortable with — which would probably be Calipari.
The third most likely player to leave Kentucky is Billy Richmond.
While Richmond is considered likely to leave Kentucky, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll join Calipari at Arkansas. The Memphis native was heavily recruited by the University of Memphis before verbally committing to Kentucky in December 2023.
Either way, don’t expect Richmond to be a Wildcat next season.
Where Does Calipari’s Exit Leave Kentucky?
For the first time in 15 seasons, Calipari won’t be coaching Kentucky next year. But who will take over for him?
CBS Sports listed a few potential options to replace Calipari. Among the most intriguing is Alabama coach Nate Oats.
Oats just led Alabama’s basketball team to their first Final Four appearance in school history. Although the Crimson Tide will want to keep him around, Kentucky might be more appealing for Oats in the long run.
UConn coach Dan Hurley is potential fit for the Wildcats.
“While it seems unlikely that Hurley would leave his post at UConn,” CBS Sports’ Cameron Salerno wrote, “you at least make the call if you’re Kentucky.”
Perhaps the outcome of UConn’s National Championship game on April 8 might sway Hurley in one direction or the other.
Regardless of who coaches Kentucky next season, they’ll likely have to compensate for former commits Calipari has poached.
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