Montverde Academy (Fla.) 6-10 center Dakari Johnson verbally committed to the Kentucky Wildcats on Jan. 5. Johnson, a New York City native, is ranked as the best center prospect and the 12th best prospect overall in the class of 2013 by ESPN Recruiting Nation.
Johnson chose Kentucky over Georgetown and Syracuse. He made his decision following Montverde’s 82-53 win over Chicago Simeon at the Cancer Research Classic on Jan 5.
Johnson, a hard worker with a strong body and good hands, gives Kentucky three No.1 ranked prospects at their position in their 2013 recruiting class. The other two number one rated prospects joining the Wildcats in 2013 are twin brothers Andrew (No. 1 point guard) and Aaron Harrison (No.1 shooting guard). The Harrison’s signed with Kentucky on Oct. 4, 2012.
In addition to the Harrison twins, Kentucky has signed James Young (ESPN Recruiting Nation’s No. 2 shooting guard), Marcus Lee (ESPN Recruiting Nation’s No. 11 power forward) and Derek Willis (ESPN Recruiting Nation’s No. 37 power forward) for the 2013-14 season.
Other recruiting news:
- Three-star 2013 recruit Isaiah Taylor (ESPN Recruiting Nation’s No. 35 point guard) committed to Texas on Jan. 4. Thomas, the first player from the 2013 class to commit to Texas, chose the Longhorns over Alabama, SMU, Fresno State, Creighton and Northwestern, among others.
- Wake Forest received a verbal commitment from Shelton Mitchell (ESPN Recruiting Nation's No. 20 prospect in the class of 2014) on Jan. 4. Mitchell (Waxhaw, N.C./Cuthbertson HS) also had offers from Charlotte and South Carolina.
- Kendall Smith (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) committed to attend UNLV in 2013 on Jan. 4. The 6-0 point guard was also drawing interest from Connecticut and UCLA.
- Leron Black, ESPN Recruiting Nation’s No. 11 prospect in the class of 2014, de-committed from Baylor on Jan. 2. Black (Memphis, Tenn./ White Station), a 6-7 power forward, is still considering the Baylor along with Memphis, Kansas, Ohio State, Louisville, Connecticut, Florida, Vanderbilt, N.C. State, Missouri, Tennessee and Georgetown.
- Class of 2014 prospect Devin Mitchell is receiving a lot of attention from Division I programs. Mitchell (Suwanee, Ga./ Collin Hills), a 6-3 combo guard, has received scholarship offers from Boston University, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Georgia, Georgia State, Ole Miss and UAB. He is also receiving interest from Purdue, Arkansas, Miami (Fla.), Georgia Tech, Auburn and N.C. State.
- Class of 2015 prospect Ben Simmons is expected to attend Montverde Academy (Fla.) next season. Simmons, a 6-8 power forward, is from Melbourne, Australia. According to CBS Sports.com, LSU and Washington are in the mix to gain Simmons’ services, though it is likely he will gain interest from other schools when he arrives on U.S. soil.
- Adonis Delarosa, one of the top high school center prospects in N.Y., is dropping weight and gaining interest from several DI programs. Delarosa, a 6-10 junior at Christ the King (Middle Village), has lost 30 pounds in the last year and is down to 270 pounds.
Delarosa has scholarship offers from Drexel, Georgetown, Hofstra, Providence and SMU. He is also hearing from Kansas, Kansas State, Manhattan, Michigan State, Missouri, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
- C.J. Thurman, ESPN Recruiting Nation’s No. 26 center in the Class of 2014, is rapidly gaining offers. Thurman (Madison, Ga./Morgan County), has offers from Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. He has also garnered interest from Ohio State.
- Rising 2015 prospect Malachi Richardson (Roselle, N.J./Roselle Catholic) has six scholarship offers. These offers are from Rutgers, Cincinnati, Indiana, James Madison, Miami (Fla.) and Seton Hall.
The 6-5 shooting guard is rated as the 27th best prospect overall in the 2015 class by 247 sports.
- ESPN Recruiting Nation’s No. 4 overall prospect in the class 2014, Emmanuel Mudiay (Arlington, Tex.,/ Prime Prep Academy) has received 10 offers from Division I programs. The 6-5 point guard has offers from Arizona, Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, SMU and Texas.
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