With the first day of the late signing recruiting period in the books, the UK recruiting scene is starting to heat up.

UK can check off its first item on its recruiting to-do list after securing the signature of commitment DeMarcus Cousins.  Cousins, ranked the No. 2 recruit in the county by Rivals.com and No. 6 recruit by Scout.com, gave new UK head coach John Calipari his verbal commitment on April 7.

After Cousins, UK’s to-do list moves on to the remaining uncommitted prospects available, namely point guard John Wall and shooting guard Xavier Henry.  Wall, ranked the No. 1 recruit by Rivals.com and the No. 2 recruit by Scout.com, would nicely fill the point guard vacancy currently on the UK roster.  Henry, ranked No. 4 by Scout.com and No. 8 by Rivals.com, was granted his release from his letter of intent at Memphis and is now considering UK and Kansas.

Neither of those players is a sure bet to wear UK blue next fall, but the Cats are firmly in the hunt for both.

Wall’s situation was further complicated by a report from ESPN.com’s Chad Ford that said the point guard might try and declare for the NBA Draft as a fifth-year high school senior.

Henry’s situation is complicated by his desire to play with his older brother, C. J., who sat out last season with an injury at Memphis.  Henry’s father told the Kernel in a March 31 story that neither son would play for Memphis next season.

If the recruitment of Wall and Henry wasn’t enough to whet UK fans’ never-ending thirst for recruiting information, the re-recruitment of center Daniel Orton and the possible recruitment of shooting guard Nolan Dennis are also on the table.  Orton, ranked No. 12 by Scout.com and No. 22 by Rivals.com, signed with UK in the fall, but has recently said he hasn’t ruled out the possibility of asking out of his letter of intent.

Dennis is another Memphis recruit signed by Calipari who was granted a release from his letter of intent.  Dennis, ranked the No. 10 shooting guard by Scout.com, has expressed interest in playing for the Cats because of his strong relationship with Calipari.

With Patrick Patterson’s announcement Wednesday that he would declare for the NBA draft but not hire and agent, UK’s roster is officially in flux.  Patterson and Jodie Meeks, who also declared for the draft but didn’t sign with an agent, could both follow through on their professional plans, both return to UK or one return and one leave.

Add in possible transfers from the rest of the current Cats, and anyone’s guess as to what next season’s roster will look like is likely to change daily until the end of the semester.

The spring signing period runs through May 20 and Meeks and Patterson have until June 15 to remove their names from the draft, so the roster situation isn’t likely to be decided any time soon.

The principal criticism of former UK head coach Tubby Smith centered on his recruiting prowess, or lack thereof if you listen to his detractors.  UK’s last head coach, Billy Gillispie, quickly energized the fan base with a bundle of commitments from high school underclassmen, but the majority of those players have moved on after the coaching change.

UK fans love recruiting, and if we’ve learned anything during the early days of the “Calipari Era,” it’s that recruiting will be a constant topic of discussion.  The only difference now is the potential UK recruits are likely to have a few more stars by their names.

Jon Hale is a journalism senior. E-mail jhale@kykernel.com.