The fall official visit season is in full swing for class of 2025 men’s college basketball recruits, many of whom are still in the process of making list cuts and determining which schools they will be signing with.
For better and worse, Mark Pope and Kentucky basketball have been major players in the recruiting space in recent weeks.
Top prospects have been in Lexington on visits to the UK program, while others have removed the Wildcats from consideration. This weekend brings more of the same, only now there will be a pair of five-star recruits on the UK campus at the same time for their official visits.
Starting on Friday, both five-star point guard Mikel Brown Jr. and five-star center Chris Cenac Jr. will be taking official visits. Both Brown and Cenac picked up Kentucky scholarship offers this summer from Pope and his new-look UK coaching staff. The pair are among several class of 2025 recruits still being pursued by Kentucky.
UK already has two commitments in the 2025 class from five-star guard Jasper Johnson and five-star center Malachi Moreno, both of whom are Kentucky natives.
Mikel Brown Jr. takes official visit to Kentucky basketball
Brown, a 6-foot-3, 165-pound point guard, is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star prospect and the No. 11 overall recruit in the 2025 class.
He reported a UK scholarship offer in June and was watched by members of the Kentucky coaching staff this summer while playing for Team Loaded NC on the Adidas grassroots circuit.
According to Synergy Sports, Brown was the second-most prolific playmaker in the 17-and-under age group on the Adidas circuit this year: Brown averaged 31 points scored or created by assists per game.
Brown was also an incredibly productive jump shooter in Adidas play: He made 76 total jump shots, which ranked fifth among all players in the 17-and-under division. This ranked was just a few spots below former UK recruit Braylon Mullins, who eliminated the Cats from his recruitment earlier this week.
Brown’s recruitment has seen him take visits to Alabama and Ole Miss in January, Central Florida in February, Indiana earlier this month and an unofficial trip to Louisville earlier this week. Later this fall, Brown — who previously played with the Atlanta-based Overtime Elite (OTE) program — has visits planned to Maryland and Arizona.
“All I know is we tried (to stop him), and Mikel came out and did the total opposite of what we thought,” Corey Frazier, an OTE coach whose team allowed 26 points to Brown in December, told the Herald-Leader. “… He developed. He stayed in the gym. He kept working on it.”
Last season at OTE, Brown averaged more than 13 points and five assists per game during both the regular season and playoffs.
Brown will finish his prep career at DME Academy in Florida.
“Kentucky might do well to target a downhill guard that can operate in the pick-and-roll and toggle on and off the ball,” Zach Welch, an analyst for Pro Insight Basketball, told the Herald-Leader when asked what kind of backcourt player UK should recruit to complement the commitments of Johnson and Moreno.
“A guard that puts pressure on the rim consistently and can operate out of these advantage situations will generate better shooting windows for Johnson and complement Moreno’s pick-and-roll versatility, as well.”
Chris Cenac Jr. takes official visit to Kentucky
Cenac — a 6-foot-10, 230-pound center — was another player who picked up a summer scholarship offer from Pope and the Kentucky coaching staff.
Cenac’s offer arrived in June, after UK coaches watched him in action at the prestigious NBPA Top 100 Camp in Orlando, Florida. Cenac was named the MVP of that event after averaging 18.6 points across nine games. He also led all camp participants in rebounds per game (11.4) and was among the camp’s leaders in steals per game (1.6) and blocks per game (1.6).
Those statistics offer a snapshot of what’s been a meteoric summer of development for Cenac. He’s ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star recruit and as the No. 8 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class. The 247Sports Composite has Cenac ranked as the top center in the 2025 recruiting group, one spot ahead of Moreno.
But while Moreno is viewed as more of a long-term college player, Cenac’s calling card is his versatility, something that will likely immediately be evident at the college level.
“I can just shoot the ball, handle the ball, defend the one through the five, post a guy up,” Cenac said at the NBPA Top 100 Camp. “I can really do everything on the floor, rebound, all that.”
After playing high school basketball at the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, Cenac will conclude his prep career at Link Academy in Missouri. This is the same prep school that Johnson, one of UK’s two 2025 commits, played at last season.
“A forward who can serve as a weakside rim protector and offer off-ball equity offensively will maximize both (Moreno and Johnson’s) talents and fortify their weaknesses,” Welch, the Pro Insight Basketball analyst, told the Herald-Leader about what kind of big man UK should pursue in the 2025 class to complement Johnson and Moreno.
Cenac is operating with a top-12 list of schools, which Kentucky is a part of. He is also considering Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Houston, LSU, Louisville, Michigan State, Tennessee, Texas and two-time defending national champion UConn.
Cenac has already taken visits to Houston, Tennessee and Auburn, with that visit to the Tigers coming last weekend. He’s also set to visit LSU in November, and reportedly also wants to take trips to see Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor and Louisville.
“How they are going to play me, what they have to offer,” Cenac told ZAGSBLOG ahead of his UK visit. “I’m just looking forward to seeing what they do this season and how they do. That’s what’s most important to me right now.”
Pope is one of several college coaches who have gone to Link Academy to visit Cenac since the NCAA recruiting calendar shifted to a live period earlier this month.
Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope is hosting a pair of five-star recruits for official visits this weekend.
Kentucky men’s basketball coach Mark Pope is hosting a pair of five-star recruits for official visits this weekend. Tasha Poullard tpoullard@herald-leader.com
Leave a Reply