Kentucky men’s basketball targeting two players who used to be signed to other schools

It’s no secret that the Kentucky men’s basketball program is in a somewhat desperate situation at the moment.

The Wildcats’ roster for the 2023-24 season is lacking in depth and experience.

Last week’s NBA Draft decisions saw Chris Livingston and Oscar Tshiebwe depart UK, while Antonio Reeves said he would be playing college basketball next season but stopped short of committing to another season in Lexington.

UK has eight scholarship players signed up for next season (including former walk-on Brennan Canada, who was put on scholarship last season and will be back for a fifth season at UK).

John Calipari’s freshman-heavy team needs more players to supplement its top-ranked 2023 recruiting class, but the Wildcats are currently focused on two more would-be freshmen to bolster the team’s depth and talent for next season.

Jordan Burks, Joey Hart set for Kentucky visits

While UK isn’t in much of a position to be picky with any potential player additions at this stage of the offseason, there is still significant talent available in both the NCAA transfer portal and among class of 2023 recruits who are still without a school.

One of the players who falls firmly in that second group is small forward Jordan Burks, a class of 2023 player who played last season at Hillcrest Prep, an Arizona school that plays in the Overtime Elite pro basketball league (OTE).

This was only the latest stop for Burks in a winding high school career: He began his prep career at Heritage Christian Academy in Decatur, Alabama, before then playing at Central Pointe Christian Academy (Florida) and Southern California Academy (California), before his move to Hillcrest and experience in the OTE league.

Playing against both college-eligible and pro-bound players in OTE, Burks more than held his own: He led OTE in scoring during the regular season with more than 27 points per game and added 7.5 rebounds and nearly 3 assists per regular-season contest as well.

Burks also led OTE in scoring during the playoffs with a per-game average of 23 points.

The 6-foot-9, 190-pound, 19-year-old Burks — who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a three-star prospect and as the No. 172 recruit in the country — committed last August to play college basketball at Ole Miss, and signed his national letter of intent with the school last November.

Of course, this all came while Kermit Davis was the head coach at Ole Miss, something that changed in February.

Former Texas Tech and Texas head coach Chris Beard was named the new head coach at Ole Miss in mid-March. And despite initially seeming like he would stay with Ole Miss, Burks asked for a release from his NLI a few weeks later.

This left Burks without a school, something that’s still the case.

Enter Kentucky.

Monday marked the start of an official visit for Burks to Kentucky, and he has set his commitment announcement for noon Wednesday.

And Burks isn’t the only 2023 recruit who used to be signed to another school that is getting attention from Kentucky.

Joey Hart, a class of 2023 shooting guard from Linton, Indiana, is also expected to be in Lexington to visit the Wildcats this week.

Hart, who is listed as 6-4 and 180 pounds by 247Sports, committed to Central Florida last August and signed his NLI with the Knights last November.

He was released from that NLI in May.

Hart averaged more than 23 points per game as a high school senior last season for Linton-Stockton High School, and he was named an Indiana Senior All-Star for his efforts.

This means Hart is set to play in the annual Indiana-Kentucky All-Stars series on Friday in Owensboro and Saturday in Indianapolis.

Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard is part of the Kentucky Senior All-Star team after being named Kentucky Mr. Basketball in March, but Sheppard’s freshman enrollment process at UK means he won’t be able to play in either of this week’s games.

Kentucky men’s basketball roster outlook

Here’s a current breakdown of the scholarship players joining and leaving the Cats from last season, along with the still existing question mark of where Antonio Reeves will play another college basketball season.

Incoming players: Aaron Bradshaw (freshman center), Robert Dillingham (freshman guard), Justin Edwards (freshman small forward), Reed Sheppard (freshman guard), DJ Wagner (freshman guard).

Returning players: Brennan Canada (fifth-year guard), Ugonna Onyenso (sophomore forward), Adou Thiero (sophomore guard).

Outgoing players: Daimion Collins (forward, transferred to LSU), CJ Fredrick (guard, transferred to Cincinnati), Chris Livingston (forward, NBA Draft), Jacob Toppin (forward, NBA Draft), Oscar Tshiebwe (forward, NBA Draft), Cason Wallace (guard, NBA Draft), Lance Ware (forward, transferred to Villanova), Sahvir Wheeler (guard, transferred to Washington).

Yet to be announced: Antonio Reeves (guard, returning to college basketball).