John Calipari will spend Martin Luther King Jr. Day watching Brandon Knight.
Knight, the top-rated recruit in the Class of 2010, and his Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Pine Crest teammates are in Dayton, Ohio at the Flyin’ to the Hoop event.
“We’re only 45 minutes from the University of Kentucky. The early rumor is that all of Kentucky’s staff is coming down. They’re going to do whatever they can do,” Pine Crest coach Dave Beckerman said by phone.
The 6-foot-3 Knight dropped 36 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer from NBA range with 3 seconds left Saturday to lift Pine Crest to a 64-61 win over Princeton (Ohio).
Ohio State-bound 6-4 guard Jordan Sibert finished with 16 points for Princeton.
On Monday Knight and company face 6-10 Michigan State-bound big man Adreian Payne and Cincinnati Jefferson.
Knight lists Kentucky, Kansas, Florida, Miami and UConn and will sign in the spring.
“Those schools are still in the mix,” Knight told Jody Demling of the Louisville Courier Journal. “They’re still pretty even.”
He has one visit left and is expected to visit Miami.
“He does have one visit left. I do believe he will take a visit to Miami,” Beckerman said.
As previously reported here, Knight could be next in line for Calipari, who will have sent three straight point guards to the lottery after this year — John Wall, Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose.
Knight visited Kentucky in September and enjoyed it.
“It’s a basketball school, and their players right now are getting better,” he told the Louisville Courier Journal. “That’s a plus.”
Beckerman said the team hopes to play into early March and that Knight won’t make any decisions until then.
“This kid is a very, very, very focused kid. He does his homework, he does his practice,” the coach said. “He does everything methodically.
“He wants to defend our district championship, then the regional championship, then the state championship. That will take us to about March 8. Then it will all be over.”
Beckerman said Knight will also want to see “who’s going to declare for the NBA, who’s leaving, who’s coming in, who’s bringing in what players.”
“He’s very methodical,” Beckerman added. “He’s not going to be rushed.”
MILK DRAWING LOOKS
Matt Milk, a 6-9 forward from Long Island playing at Pine Crest, is also drawing looks.
Milk posted 11 rebounds and 2 blocks against Princeton and has interest from Hartford, Stony Brook, Dartmouth and FIU.
“He’s going to be a real steal,” Beckerman said. “Somebody’s going to get something more than they bargained for.
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