Kentucky men’s basketball recruit makes college commitment. The choice wasn’t UK.

Another class of 2024 Kentucky men’s basketball recruit is off the board.

And once again, the choice wasn’t the Wildcats.

Ahmad Nowell — a combo guard who is ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 36 player nationally in his class by the 247Sports Composite — announced his commitment to UConn on Sunday afternoon.

Nowell, who announced his decision live on the 247Sports YouTube channel, picked UConn from a final four that also included Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Kentucky.

A 6-foot-2, 190-pound backcourt player (measurements via Rivals), there were reasons for optimism with relation to Nowell’s recruitment by John Calipari and the UK program.

Nowell plays for the same high school basketball team — Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia — and travel basketball program (Team Final) as current UK freshman Justin Edwards.

Nowell and Edwards were teammates at Imhotep, and Edwards told the Herald-Leader earlier this month that he was in contact with Team Final while the program played at Peach Jam, the prestigious end-of-season Nike EYBL event.

A scholarship offer was only extended to Nowell by UK in late April, and it came with good reason.

A strong, stocky guard with a high motor, Nowell was a breakout regular-season player on the Nike EYBL circuit: He recorded 13.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game with 40.7% three-point shooting and 83.9% free-throw shooting with Team Final across four regular-season stops.

In six games at Peach Jam, Nowell averaged 12.0 points, 6.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds. He also averaged better than a steal per game.

“When I first saw him as a sophomore the immediate impression was how physically mature he was,” Owen McCue, an assistant editor at the Philadelphia basketball-focused publication City of Basketball Love, told the Herald-Leader.

“He looked like a college guard then and has continued to get stronger and he definitely uses that to advantage driving to the basket, creating separation for shots and on the defensive end. He also has a lot of maturity to his game. He’s fundamentally sound and plays in control.”

It also appeared likely that UK was to get an official visit from Nowell during the course of his college basketball recruitment.

At first, a timeline was discussed that could have had Nowell make a visit to Lexington prior to Peach Jam, an event in which he and Team Final reached the quarterfinals.

That visit never came to fruition, though.

It was also clear that Nowell planned to make his college announcement swiftly after the end of Peach Jam: He told reporters during the event he would be committing on July 23.

But despite a late recruiting push by Kentucky, which came in person both on the Nike EYBL circuit and in Philadelphia, the Cats are still left empty — for now — when it comes to incoming backcourt players for next season.

UK’s lone commitment in the 2024 class remains four-star center Somto Cyril, who plays in the Overtime Elite league based out of Atlanta.

Nowell’s decision to spurn Kentucky is also a rare recent recruiting miss for UK in the Greater Philadelphia area: The likes of Edwards, Aaron Bradshaw, D.J. Wagner, Kareem Watkins, Jacob Toppin and Lance Ware have all suited up for the Wildcats in recent seasons from the region.

Kentucky men’s basketball 2024 recruiting efforts

The Kentucky men’s basketball program currently has 16 scholarship offers out to players in the class of 2024, but not every offer is on equal footing.

Some belong to players like Nowell, who have already committed to other schools or announced that they are no longer considering UK.

Others are held by players with an open recruitment. As previously mentioned, center Somto Cyril is UK’s only 2024 commitment.

Here’s a look at each player with a UK scholarship offer in the 2024 class, and where their recruitment with Kentucky stands.

▪ PG Tahaad Pettiford committed to Auburn in February.

▪ PG Travis Perry recently told Rivals that he’s taken official visits to Michigan, Purdue, Cincinnati and Ole Miss, and has plans to take more visits soon after the live recruiting periods.

▪ SG Tre Johnson has a final list of six schools: Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky and Texas. He took an official visit to UK in January.

▪ SG Ian Jackson committed to North Carolina in January.

▪ SG Billy Richmond’s father played for John Calipari at Memphis in the early 2000s, and Richmond plays for the same high school Camden (N.J.) that produced ex-Cat Lance Ware and current Cats Aaron Bradshaw and D.J. Wagner.

▪ CG Boogie Fland has taken official visits so far to North Carolina, Michigan and Indiana. Fland is expected to visit UK in early September. UK is in the final list of eight schools for Fland.

▪ CG Ahmad Nowell committed to UConn on Sunday.

▪ SG Isaiah Elohim took an official visit to Kansas in February.

▪ SF Naas Cunningham does not have UK among his final five schools — Duke, Kansas, Memphis, Rutgers and UCLA.

▪ SF Karter Knox included Kentucky in his list of eight schools and professional pathways in May: That included Auburn, Arkansas, Florida State, Kentucky, Louisville LSU, South Florida and the NBA G League Ignite.

▪ SF Airious Bailey committed to Rutgers in January.

▪ SF Amier Ali released a list of his top eight schools In April — Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Florida State, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio State and Texas.

▪ C Flory Bidunga does not have UK among final four schools — Auburn, Duke, Kansas and Michigan.

▪ C Somto Cyril committed to Kentucky. Cyril became the first, and only, class of 2024 player to commit to UK when he did so in June.

▪ C Patrick Ngongba II is UK’s most recent offer in the 2024 class. He collected the Kentucky scholarship offer shortly after Peach Jam ended earlier this month. UK is in the final list of eight schools for Ngongba.

▪ C Jayden Quaintance received his Kentucky scholarship offer when he was still a five-star class of 2025 big man, but he recently announced plans to reclassify into the 2024 recruiting group.