Billy Richmond among Kentucky basketball recruits planning to attend Big Blue Madness
LEXINGTON — While Kentucky men's basketball and coach John Calipari still have only one commitment in the 2024 recruiting class (big man Somto Cyril), dominoes are beginning to fall.
Tre Johnson, the top-ranked shooting guard in the class who once had UK among his four finalists, recently trimmed his list to two: Baylor and Texas. On the flip side, the Wildcats remain in the running for another highly ranked shooting guard: Billy Richmond, who announced Wednesday that Kentucky is one of his final four schools along with Alabama, LSU and Memphis.
A source told The Courier Journal on Thursday morning that Richmond is planning to attend UK's Big Blue Madness event Friday at Rupp Arena, along with Cyril and a handful of the Wildcats' other top targets in the 2024 class — as well as some of the best talent in the years to come.
Here is a list of the prospects who will reportedly be on hand at Big Blue Madness:
Darius Acuff Jr.
High school: IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida)
Position: Point guard
Class: 2025
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: 5 stars
What to know: Kentucky offered Acuff in April, and attending Big Blue Madness on Friday will be part of an official visit for the nation's top-ranked point guard in the 2025 class. Michigan has received the only official visit Acuff has made so far. It's no surprise: He's a Michigan native, starting his high school career at Cass Tech High in Detroit before transferring to national powerhouse IMG Academy earlier this year. Calipari visited Acuff at IMG last month. Acuff holds numerous offers aside from UK and Michigan, including Indiana, Kansas, Michigan State and St. John's, among others.
Jordan Bender
High school: Ballard (Louisville)
Position: Forward
Class: 2026
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: N/A
What to know: A local product from Ballard, Bender is still building his profile nationally. He has yet to be evaluated by any of the four major recruiting services: Rivals, 247Sports, ESPN or On3. The Courier Journal named Bender one of the top 25 boys basketball prospects in the state prior to last season. Bender's been busy recently: According to Recruits Zone, he visited Ohio State last week and will visit Tennessee on Saturday, the day after Big Blue Madness.
Somto Cyril
High school: Overtime Elite (Atlanta, Georgia)
Position: Center
Class: 2024
College commitment status: Committed to Kentucky
247Sports Composite rating: 4 stars
What to know: A 6-foot-10, 241-pound center, Cyril is the Wildcats' only committed prospect in the 2024 cycle. He committed to UK on June 28. Cyril averaged 8.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game during Overtime Elite's 2022-23 regular season. He led OTE in field-goal percentage (66.2%; 45 for 68), blocks per game and total blocks last season.
@somto_cyril broke the backboard so everyone could get their weekend started early. I guess that’s one way to end practice! pic.twitter.com/jCBwNt40cL
— Hamilton Heights Athletics (@hhhawkssports) September 3, 2021
Jasper Johnson
High school: Link Academy (Branson, Missouri)
Position: Combo guard
Class: 2025
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: 5 stars
What to know: The former Woodford County star, who last season led the school to the KSHAA Sweet 16 state tournament for the first time since 1986, now suits up for Missouri-based Link Academy, which has quickly turned into one of the top basketball programs in the country and won the GEICO national title earlier this year. But Kentucky isn't far from his heart: His father, Dennis Johnson, was a football player at UK and now is the head football coach and athletics director at Woodford County. The younger Johnson hasn't released a list of finalists yet, but he told the Herald-Leader earlier this week that he plans to do so soon. "I plan on maybe committing around the end of the year, early AAU (season), after Peach Jam, I’m not sure yet,” Johnson told the Herald-Leader. He recently visited Georgia Tech and West Virginia. Calipari (with assistant Orlando Antigua in tow) stopped by Link Academy to see Johnson last month.
Jayden Johnson
High school: Trinity (Louisville)
Position: Shooting guard
Class: 2026
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: 4 stars
What to know: Johnson, who averaged 10.6 points on 40.7% shooting to go along with 4.4 rebounds per game as a freshman at Trinity last season, is still in the early stages of his recruitment. He doesn't yet have an offer from Kentucky but does reportedly have them from Cincinnati, Missouri, Texas A&M and West Virginia. He told The Courier Journal in July that competing at Peach Jam was beneficial. "My (basketball) IQ — just trying to get that higher," Johnson said. "And playing the right way, getting my teammates involved." He's the top-ranked player in Kentucky in the 2026 cycle, per the 247Sports Composite.
Taylen Kinney
High school: Newport (Newport, Kentucky)
Position: Point guard
Class: 2026
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: N/A
What to know: Kinney, a 6-foot, 160-pound floor general from Newport High, is still waiting to receive star-rating evaluations from the major recruiting services. But he already holds his fair share of offers from high-major schools, including Louisville, Cincinnati, Illinois, Texas A&M and Xavier.
Malachi Moreno
High school: Great Crossing (Georgetown, Kentucky)
Position: Center
Class: 2025
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: 4 stars
What to know: The big man from just north of Lexington in Georgetown, Moreno already holds offers from numerous SEC schools (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, LSU, Missouri and Tennessee) and other power-conference programs, including Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue and Southern California. While he's still awaiting an offer from UK, the consensus four-star prospect will take in Big Blue Madness. Moreno only has taken one official visit so far (Iowa) but has had a number of unofficial visits this month and last month.
Travis Perry
High school: Lyon County (Eddyville, Kentucky)
Position: Point guard
Class: 2024
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: 4 stars
What to know: The all-time leading scorer in Kentucky high school basketball history, Perry will make yet another visit to Lexington on Friday. He visited Missouri, Ole Miss and Purdue last month. Perry also plans to visit Cincinnati and Michigan before making his decision, telling Kentucky Sports Radio that he wants to announce his commitment early next month, just prior to the start of the early signing period.
Here’s the record-setting free throw by Travis Perry. pic.twitter.com/RMARen9NEz
— Jason Frakes (@kyhighs) March 16, 2023
Darryn Peterson
High school: Huntington Prep (Huntington, West Virginia)
Position: Shooting guard
Class: 2025
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: 5 stars
What to know: Arguably the crown jewel of the Big Blue Madness visitors list, Peterson is the No. 3 player nationally in the 2025 class, per the 247Sports Composite. He was the first 2025 prospect Kentucky offered, with UK extending the scholarship in August 2022. Peterson's recruitment is far from over. Last month on his personal Instagram page, he released his top 16 schools. It's a who's who of college basketball's most high-profile programs; aside from Kentucky, the group includes Louisville, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina and UCLA. Peterson starred at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in Ohio before transferring to Huntington Prep this summer. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Peterson averaged 31 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.3 assists a game last season at CVCA. He made more than half of his field-goal attempts, including shooting nearly 42% from behind the 3-point line. And there is no lack of hype surrounding Peterson: He's been called "the best player to come out of Ohio" since LeBron James became a worldwide sensation at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School two decades ago.
Billy Richmond
High school: Camden (Camden, New Jersey)
Position: Shooting guard
Class: 2024
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: 4 stars
What to know: Though Richmond trimmed his list of finalists to four earlier this week, it's long been viewed as a two-horse race between Kentucky and Memphis. There are connections to both: Richmond's father, Billy Richmond, played for Calipari at Memphis. And now, Calipari is entering his 15th season as the coach of the Wildcats. Richmond also played with UK freshmen Aaron Bradshaw and D.J. Wagner last season at Camden High. Despite the younger Richmond's links to Memphis, his father made headlines Monday, criticizing his alma mater's fan base on Facebook for not being willing to donate more money toward NIL. All three predictions logged for Richmond so far (two on Rivals, one via On3) project the four-star guard will end up with the Wildcats.
Gabe Weis
High school: Washington County (Springfield, Kentucky)
Position: Shooting guard
Class: 2026
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: N/A
What to know: Like a few other prospects on this list, Weis hasn't been assessed yet by the major recruiting websites. But his stock has risen quickly after starring for Team Phenom United on the 16U 3SSB circuit. Weis already has taken unofficial visits to Cincinnati and Ohio State. And he has offers from those two as well as Illinois, Iowa, LSU and Texas A&M. But it's clear he is eager for Kentucky to extend an offer. "My whole town would go crazy," Weis told Kentucky Sports Radio last week. "It would be a great opportunity, great experience to have that offer under my belt and keep in the back of my head. I don’t really expect them to right now, they wait until (recruits’) junior and senior years to start really recruiting people. I’m just going to be patient with it." According to On3, Weis averaged 11.5 points (on 53.9% shooting) and seven rebounds per game during his freshman season at Washington County.
Washington County star Gabe Weis on an unofficial visit to Kentucky today
Potential five-star, likely No. 1 in Kentucky for 2026 pic.twitter.com/pQqoF4orw7— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) October 4, 2023
Caleb Wilson
High school: Holy Innocents' Episcopal School (Atlanta, Georgia)
Position: Power forward
Class: 2025
College commitment status: Undecided
247Sports Composite rating: 4 stars
What to know: One of the most highly sought-after players in the 2025 cycle, Wilson checks in as the No. 5 overall player in his class, per the 247Sports Composite. A consensus five-star recruit, Wilson has been busy recently, taking unofficial visits to Alabama and Tennessee last month. Before October ends, he's scheduled to take official visits to Auburn and Stanford. But the Wildcats have made sure Wilson knows he's a priority for their 2025 class, watching him play in-person multiple times and visiting him, too. Most recently, Kentucky's coaching staff stopped by to see him last month.
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Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky basketball recruiting: Who is attending Big Blue Madness?
