Kentucky commit Kahlil Whitney to sign in the spring

By ADAM ZAGORIA

Kentucky commit Kahlil Whitney of Roselle (N.J.) Catholic plans to sign his National Letter of Intent with the Wildcats in his hometown of Chicago during the spring signing period, a source told ZAGSBLOG.

The spring period runs April 17-May 15.

“He’ll be signing in the spring due to a logistical issue because he wants to do it at home in Chicago,” the source said. “His dream has always been to do it at his elemenatry school in Chicago and it didn’t work out for the fall.

“He’s still 100 percent committed to Kentucky. He’s not reopening his recruitment.”

Whitney commited to Kentucky on Aug. 8 over Illinois, Georgetown and Oregon. He is the projected No. 7 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, per ESPN’s mock.

Kentucky last week announced the signings of guards Tyrese Maxey and Dontaie Allen. For now, their 2019 recruiting class includes the three guards, with two of them having signed.

Kentucky on Tuesday missed out on 7-footer James Wiseman, the No. 1 recruit in 2019, when he selected his hometown Memphis Tigers.

James Wiseman to Memphis announcement pic.twitter.com/DZSpHnoFKd

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) November 20, 2018

Kentucky will need bigs in the Class of 2019 because Reid Travis will graduate and P.J. Washington and/or Nick Richards could leave for the pros.

But Kentucky is not expected to make the final three for Vernon Carey Jr. when he announces his final schools, and Kentucky is also not considered the favorite for other bigs like Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart, although they have yet to announce their selections.

“We don’t get every kid,” Kentucky coach John Calipari told reporters Tuesday. “We get the ones we are supposed to get. It just kinda plays out that way and it always has. It’s not changed my approach to this.”

He added: “I gotta be able to sleep at night, knowing that I’m being honest and not embellishing. I’m not saying that against anybody else. Everybody recruits the way they recruit. But you’ve got good programs and good coaches and that’s why we don’t get everybody we recruit. We’re not the only ones out there trying to get good players and trying to help kids.”

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