2025 Recruiting: Acaden Lewis

[RuffRuff]

Will be committing today. No one is expecting surprises here and for it not to be UK, but worth mentioning since he still lists UConn as one of his top 3.

Also committing will be Shelton Henderson, expected to commit to Duke.

Trilly has a few tweets out there today.

 

[ScottCT]

Will be committing today. No one is expecting surprises here and for it not to be UK, but worth mentioning since he still lists UConn as one of his top 3.

Also committing will be Shelton Henderson, expected to commit to Duke.

Trilly has a few tweets out there today.

How many scholarships does duke have? It feels like they have 30 commitments in the last 2 classes.

 

[HooperScooper]

Prediction for Kentucky with 100% confidence.

There was an article on On3 earlier this week that I read with an alternate access but now I can't get it to work.

INTEL: One school has momentum with 4-star PG Acaden Lewis

On3's Jamie Shaw lays out and discusses the latest recruiting intel with four-star point guard Acaden Lewis as one school gains momentum.

www.on3.com

 

[JerseyAlum]

Yeah, should be as shocking as Peterson to Kansas to this 'yard.

 

[NJHusky]

It’s funny how he listing UConn even though UConn isn’t taking any more US players.

 

[HooperScooper]

It’s funny how he listing UConn even though UConn isn’t taking any more US players.

As I said the other day, if he publicly eliminated UConn and Duke since they're not recruiting him anymore then what kind of televised announcement would this be?

 

[Dove]

How many scholarships does duke have? It feels like they have 30 commitments in the last 2 classes.

They're a grist mill.

 

[RuffRuff]

While not coming this way I’ll be excited to see how Acaden turns out at UK and hope the best for him. Seems like a great kid. The UConn recruitment there seemed to hit a wall after his UK visit, and you just wonder if Hurley has any threshold for even a hint of the “non serious” stuff.

Not sure if anyone saw Amari Evans commit to Tennessee with OT Elite, but definitely a different style. While absolutely fun for the kids, has a different “aura”. Makes me wonder if DH will ever pull out of that system.
It just feels more like a Cal style pipeline.



Scheyer pushed a few 5 stars into the portal last year, but as long as kids kill to play there, he can pull that off. I’m sure any haul this year is with the expectation of draft and portal. 4 after today and he’s likely not done.

 

[SoFla Steve]

No surprise . . . it's Kentucky.

 

[controlfade]

He prefers Hurley coaching style.

No surprise he chose UK though.

 

[Mr. French]

I love this kid's game and will watch him with excitement - I love the crafty lefty PG.

I also can stop totally hating UK now that Calipari is gone. He's the main driver of my disdain for them over the last 20 years, not actually UK.

 

[husky99]

Best of luck ,unless you play uconn

 

[HooperScooper]

I always wonder how the final recruitment like one with Lewis goes down. UConn obviously wanted him. They visited him at his school a couple months ago and made his final 3.

Did UConn like Adams/Mullins more so he prioritized getting them?

Did UConn get a sense that Lewis was not leaning their way so they took Adams and/or Mullins and dropped out with Lewis?

Did they like Furphy so much that they took him without waiting for Lewis? Or had Lewis already told UConn that he wasn't going to choose them so they took Furphy?

Or any combination of things.

Even with all the recruiting information we get these days, way more than we used to, the recruiting process is still mysterious. Which is probably one good reason many of us like to follow it.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I always wonder how the final recruitment like one with Lewis goes down. UConn obviously wanted him. They visited him at his school a couple months ago and made his final 3.

Did UConn like Adams/Mullins more so he prioritized getting them?

Did UConn get a sense that Lewis was not leaning their way so they took Adams and/or Mullins and dropped out with Lewis?

Did they like Furphy so much that they took him without waiting for Lewis? Or had Lewis already told UConn that he wasn't going to choose them so they took Furphy?

Or any combination of things.

Even with all the recruiting information we get these days, way more than we used to, the recruiting process is still mysterious. Which is probably one good reason many of us like to follow it.

I think we need to take a step back, realize that we can still lose recruits. We clearly wanted Meleek Thomas and Acaden Lewis, and that's okay. The kids we got are just as good.

The sick thing about recruiting at a blue blood level, is your backup plans aren't 3 stars, they're top 40 guys.

 

[UCTitleTown]

I just read an article from a Kentucky paper that said Pope is rolling beating out Duke and UConn for Lewis. Actually, Duke and UConn got commitments from 5 stars over 4 star Lewis. It makes for a great take for Kentucky, but I laughed out loud. It was either commit to Kentucky or reopen his recruitment like Bundalo.

 

[HooperScooper]

I think we need to take a step back, realize that we can still lose recruits. We clearly wanted Meleek Thomas and Acaden Lewis, and that's okay. The kids we got are just as good.

In 2 of my scenarios I said he wasn't going to choose UConn. So I have that covered. My question is basically did UConn know a while ago he wasn't choosing UConn and they moved on or did they prioritize others and took them first. It's been kind of obvious for a while Lewis was going to choose Kentucky. I'm guessing it had a lot to do with playing time at Kentucky as a freshman. What point guards on the roster now will be at Kentucky next year?

 

[superjohn]

In 2 of my scenarios I said he wasn't going to choose UConn. So I have that covered. My question is basically did UConn know a while ago he wasn't choosing UConn and they moved on or did they prioritize others and took them first. It's been kind of obvious for a while Lewis was going to choose Kentucky. I'm guessing it had a lot to do with playing time at Kentucky as a freshman. What point guards on the roster now will be at Kentucky next year?

I think it became a race to commit and Darius Adams made sure he got that scholarship. I think Hurley fell in love with Mullins.

 

[controlfade]

In 2 of my scenarios I said he wasn't going to choose UConn. So I have that covered. My question is basically did UConn know a while ago he wasn't choosing UConn and they moved on or did they prioritize others and took them first. It's been kind of obvious for a while Lewis was going to choose Kentucky. I'm guessing it had a lot to do with playing time at Kentucky as a freshman. What point guards on the roster now will be at Kentucky next year?

Feel like DH wanted either Adams or Lewis. Once Adams committed there was no spot for Lewis. I don’t believe there was ever a scenario of Adams and Lewis .

Not to mention after we got Mullins it was reported that we were no longer looking at any American players. Lewis really had no option but UK from his final 3 after Duke got Boozer and UCONN Adams and essentially withdrew.

 

[That Guy]

For as basketball obsessed as UK fans claim to be, they definitely seem to be out of the loop more often than not. Pretty sure we haven't been recruiting Lewis since Adams committed. It is cute that they think Mark Pope would beat out Hurley for a recruit though.

 

[7774]

In 2 of my scenarios I said he wasn't going to choose UConn. So I have that covered. My question is basically did UConn know a while ago he wasn't choosing UConn and they moved on or did they prioritize others and took them first. It's been kind of obvious for a while Lewis was going to choose Kentucky. I'm guessing it had a lot to do with playing time at Kentucky as a freshman. What point guards on the roster now will be at Kentucky next year?

My sense with both of these guys, especially Thomas, was we were the leaders and then there was a pretty sharp turn where all of a sudden we weren’t anymore.

That always makes me think the NIL numbers got big and we made a strategic decision to pivot i.e., if you can sign Adams and Mullins or Adams and Reibe for the money Thomas will get on his own, it just makes more strategic sense for the roster to do that, even if you can afford the Thomas number. We know for sure Mullins took a discount to come here.

One of these guys is going to Kentucky and the other will probably end up at Arkansas, so you know they’re near the top of NIL numbers. If I had to guess I’d say UConn has known for a while because both parties understood they were going in a different direction.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Of all the recruits we were actively engaged with, Meleek Thomas was the most impressive from everything I saw.

 

[RuffRuff]

Of all the recruits we were actively engaged with, Meleek Thomas was the most impressive from everything I saw.

Tend to agree with this, but also a very
likely OAD. Meleek is a silky smooth multi level scorer. He’s also heavy on ball, and not sure this system is ready for a heavy on ball freshman who’s bolting in a year. He’ll be a much better fit with Cal, who will let him go showcase his stuff in a less structured iso ball setup.

DH picked up multi year kids and much better fits.

 

[Fan1978]

My sense with both of these guys, especially Thomas, was we were the leaders and then there was a pretty sharp turn where all of a sudden we weren’t anymore.

That always makes me think the NIL numbers got big and we made a strategic decision to pivot i.e., if you can sign Adams and Mullins or Adams and Reibe for the money Thomas will get on his own, it just makes more strategic sense for the roster to do that, even if you can afford the Thomas number. We know for sure Mullins took a discount to come here.

One of these guys is going to Kentucky and the other will probably end up at Arkansas, so you know they’re near the top of NIL numbers. If I had to guess I’d say UConn has known for a while because both parties understood they were going in a different direction.

You are spot on both these guys want more nil
Than UConn offers which is fine. Great players but probably not a good fit.

 

[Scrutineer]

It comes down to DH wanting players who will commit to working hard and playing within his system first and foremost. Then, if we have reasonable money, he will make the offer. If not, we move on.

When, other than 2004, have we had multiple highly ranked recruits that won a NC? It's not the rankings that matter, it's the matter within the heads of the recruits and transfers that leads to championships.