John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats started a little slow in their recruitment of players for the 2016 class but we all knew it would turn around for him and it has done so quickly. Kentucky received a commitment from De'Aaron Fox recently and now have added another elite prospect as Edrice "Bam" Adebayo has officially committed to Kentucky for 2016, according to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.
Adebayo is from High Point, North Carolina and it seemed all along that N.C. State was the favorite for him. Mark Gottfried had recruited him extremely hard and even got a commitment from his good friend Dennis Smith Jr. but in the days leading up to Adebayo's commitment there was an increasing buzz that Kentucky might have swooped in and taken the lead which came to fruition. It is hard to ever rule out Kentucky because they have been at the top of the recruiting game for a while now and they proved that again in this case.
What Kentucky is getting in Adebayo is an elite rebounder who is physical and can play above the rim. In his junior year of high school Adebayo averaged 32 points, 21 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game and because of that he ranks as the sixth best player in the class overall and the second best power forward, according to ESPN.
The addition of Adebayo officially brings Kentucky's recruiting class to the elite level and many are saying that this class has a chance to be Calipari's best. There have been people that claim Adebayo might be the best rebounder Calipari will ever coach and this class is shaping up to be extremely athletic.
"Bam" committing to the Wildcats moves their class ranking all the way up to number two in the nation right behind Duke. Bam joins Fox (five-star point guard), Wenyen Gabriel (five-star small forward), and Sacha Killeya-Jones (five-star power forward) in the 2016 class and Kentucky is not done yet as they are also reportedly the favorites for five-star guard Malik Monk. If Kentucky gets a commitment from Monk they would move to the number one class in the nation and that seems likely as Monk and Fox have talked about playing in college together. Calipari may have gotten off to a slow start but he has now risen to the top like he is used to and this 2016 class is one that should be fun to watch.
