Kentucky, Duke The Latest To Show Interest In 2019 Wing Kahlil Whitney

Kentucky, Duke The Latest To Show Interest In 2019 Wing Kahlil Whitney

After landing Isaiah Briscoe several years ago, Kentucky is now showing interest in Kahlil Whitney.

Jul 19, 2018 by Adam Zagoria
Kentucky, Duke The Latest To Show Interest In 2019 Wing Kahlil Whitney

Kentucky has already landed one player from Roselle (N.J.) Catholic High School.

Now they may be targeting another.

After landing Isaiah Briscoe several years ago, Kentucky is now showing interest in Kahlil Whitney, the 6-foot-6, 200-pound small forward from Roselle Catholic and the Chicago-based Mac Irvin Fire.

Kentucky coach John Calipari watched Whitney and the Mac Irvin Fire on Thursday in Milwaukee, as reported by ZAGSBLOG contributor Sean Bock.

"I talked to coach Calipari once and he talked to my family and I have talked to them about it," Whitney told Rivals.com. "He said that he would love to have me on campus. I don't know when I want to take an official or an unofficial, I'm not sure. But, I'll be talking to my parents about that."

He told FloHoops at the Peach State Invitational, "I'll be scheduling my visits right after July."

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski spoke with Whitney two weeks ago, while Duke assistant Jon Scheyer reached out to RC head coach Dave Boff, whose program produced Briscoe, Tyler Roberson (Syracuse) and Naz Reid (LSU), among others.

"The assistant coach has seen me a couple times and they're going to bring Coach K out," Whitney said last week. "I don't know when, they're going to let me know"

He added: "I pretty much treat every phone call the same but it's Coach K so yeah, I felt a little excited."

Asked what it would mean to land a Duke offer, Whitney said, "It would be great. I mean it's a scholarship to a school where I could go play basketball at the next level."



Whitney's averaging 20.7 points and 6.5 rebounds on the Nike circuit, and was at the Peach State Invitational last week, where Miami head coach Jim Larranaga, Oregon's Dana Altman, Maryland's Mark Turgeon, and coaches from Louisville, Illinois and others watched him.

He has yet to cut his list but broke down several schools:

Miami

"I talk to Coach L a lot. He said I fit his system, so I like Miami."

Oregon

"I like Oregon, too. They're pretty much telling me the same thing, I fit their system and they like me and they're making me a priority."

Louisville

"They been recruiting me pretty hard. Chris Mack, those guys, great group of guys. I'm their No. 1 priority for the wing spot and they want me to come in right away."

Maryland

"They're recruiting me. I probably talked to them like two weeks ago."

Illinois

"They've been recruiting me since day one."

Of St. John's and Syracuse he said, "I haven't been hearing from St. John's that much, but I hear from Syracuse a lot."

RC's Boff thinks Whitney continues to progress as a player, which should help him and the Lions in 2018-19.

"It looks like he's really expanding his game on the EYBL," Boff said. "And we're going to need him to do the things he's doing on the circuit next year in high school so it's good to see."

Roselle Catholic will lose the LSU-bound Reid to graduation, so Whitney figures to be the team's alpha next season.

"Yeah, absolutely," Boff said. "I think that's what he's looking forward to next year and that's what we're going to be asking from him."


Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who runs ZAGSBLOG.com and contributes to The New York Times. Follow Adam on Twitter.