It was not a bad Saturday night for coach John Calipari and Kentucky. First, the Wildcats won at No. 4 Tennessee in the regular-season finale, and then they collected yet another five-star recruit before the team even made it back to Lexington. Overtime Elite star Karter Knox, a 6-foot-5 wing who averaged 23.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in that league this season, announced his pledge at halftime of an OTE Finals game Saturday.
Knox said he was ready to “build on the Knox family legacy” at Kentucky.
That always felt like it would be the choice, especially considering his final list of other options: Louisville, South Florida and staying another year at OTE. The Cardinals’ appeal was coach Kenny Payne, who recruited and coached Knox’s brother, Kevin, at Kentucky. Payne then left Lexington for the NBA and coached Kevin Knox again as an assistant for the New York Knicks. Those ties run deep, but Payne is in serious jeopardy of being fired at Louisville after posting a 12-50 record in two seasons.
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USF was an intriguing option because it would’ve meant staying home for the Tampa native — and playing with his other brother, Kobe, a sophomore starter for the Bulls — but there’s no guarantee coach Amir Abdur-Rahim will be there next season either. For a different reason: Abdur-Rahim led a remarkable turnaround from 14-18 last season to 23-6 in his first season. He also coached Kennesaw State to a 26-9 record and an NCAA Tournament bid last year, so Abdur-Rahim will be a hot name on the coaching carousel.
OTE would’ve likely been a lucrative option, but NIL opportunities at Kentucky surely rival that. So in the end, Knox chose to play for Calipari, the most obvious path for any five-star player to the NBA these days. His brother Kevin was SEC Freshman of the Year for the Cats in 2018 and the No. 9 pick in the draft that summer.
It also continues a trend of players with family ties doubling down on Calipari. On the current team, DJ Wagner’s father and Adou Thiero’s father played for Calipari at Memphis, and fellow freshman guard Reed Sheppard’s parents both starred at Kentucky in the 1990s. Knox also joins 2024 commit Billy Richmond, whose dad played for Calipari at Memphis. The OTE pipeline to Lexington is also strengthened by this move. Star freshman Rob Dillingham played at Overtime — based in Atlanta — last season, and another 2024 commit, Somto Cyril, is there now as well.
Knox is the sixth ‘24 pledge for the Cats, all of them ranked among the top 100 players in the 247Sports Composite, five of them in the top 40 and four of them rated five-star prospects: No. 8 Jayden Quaintance, No. 18 Boogie Fland, No. 19 Knox, No. 23 Richmond, No. 40 Cyril and No. 80 Travis Perry, an in-state star. That haul is good for the second-ranked class in the country behind Duke.
What this means for the Wildcats’ roster
Knox, who averaged 16.4 points and 5.2 rebounds at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, is one of the best shot-makers in the class. He is currently third in scoring at Overtime Elite at 23.1 points per game.
While his three-point percentages have been up and down, Knox is more than capable of becoming a reliable shooter at the collegiate level.
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Paired with fellow McDonald’s All-American Fland, Kentucky’s backcourt is set to be exciting throughout the season. A lineup consisting of Fland, Knox, Cyril and Richmond could create a formidable offensive force.
There will be fireworks in Lexington next season but with six incoming freshmen, Calipari will need to add some players with experience via the transfer portal to round out the roster, preferably a veteran guard and big man. The transfer portal opens March 18 and I expect the Wildcats to be active early. — Tobias Bass, associate news editor
