The 2015 basketball recruiting class filled with talent
May 2, 2014
By: Brett Bibbins
With the 2014 recruiting class committed to their desired schools, UK basketball head coach John Calipari is hot on the recruiting trail again, scouting prospects for the class of 2015.
UK has already received one verbal commitment for the class of 2015, in the form of Chicago, Ill., native Charles Matthews.
Matthews is rated as the No. 4 shooting guard and No. 12 overall player in the class of 2015. Measuring at 6-foot-5 and 175 pounds, Matthews announced his intention to play at UK in February.
The Saint Rita High School product will step in to a leadership role when he gets to Lexington, Ky., said Mike Zunica, his high school athletic director.
“When he has something to say, he is going to say it,” Zunica said. “He’ll do that and will lead by example.”
Outside of Matthews, UK is expressing strong interest in many of the top players in a 2015 class that is loaded with big men. According to ESPN’s Top 60, power forwards and centers account for seven out of the top 10 spots.
Top overall player, Ivan Rabb, a 6-foot-9 power forward out of Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, Ca., received a scholarship offer from Calipari in September. As of February, Rabb has trimmed his list to 13 schools with the Cats still in the hunt.
The top center in the class, Stephen Zimmerman, also recently cut his list of prospective schools.
“My top eight (in no particular order). Thank you to all the great programs that expressed interest in me. #blessed” Zimmerman tweeted from his account, @BIGG_ZIMM. The tweet included a picture listing his top schools as Kansas, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, North Carolina, Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky, Arizona and UCLA.”
The Las Vegas native is listed at 7-feet and is coming out of Bishop Gorman High School, the same high school that UK target Shabazz Muhammad attended.
Skal Labissiere is a 6-foot-10 center who is one of the most sought-after recruits in the class. He is rated the No. 4 overall center and No. 9 overall player.
Labissiere’s list includes Georgetown, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas and Memphis.
