Kentucky was a major basketball recruiting presence in July

Jul. 27—It sure seemed like there was some drama on the University of Kentucky hoops recruiting trail, with which coaches were watching which top HS stars/recruiting targets at the Peach Jam event that ended over last weekend.

Kentucky has done its best to show it was back in the recruiting game full throttle during the important July evaluation periods.

John Calipari, Orlando Antigua, Chin Coleman and Jai Lucas were very visible both on the front end of the July cycle and especially the last two weeks at Nike events that wrapped up the Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C.

Top big man talent Jalen Duren was the focus for UK and others over the last couple of weeks of that major evaluation event.

Duren is the No. 1 ranked recruit in the 2022 class by both 247Sports and Rivals.com, and he is expected to reclassify to the 2021 class, but he has some high school course work to finish up if he makes that move, according to media reports.

Duren averaged 13.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in leading his Team Final to the Peach Jam championship this weekend.

Calipari, Memphis' Penny Hardaway and Miami's Jim Larranaga kept a close eye on the star recruit throughout July. On multiple occasions, all three coaches were in the stands together for Duren's games. Top G League representative Rod Strickland also watched him play this month.

Calipari was absent during the last weekend at the Peach Jam, according to social media posts, which set off all kinds of speculation about which school might be leading the pack for Duren's services.

Calipari was reportedly watching Peach Jam action via live stream, and was also in contact with assistant coaches.

Duren is expected to make a decision soon, but there doesn't seem to be a firm grasp on where he may end up.

Some recruiting gurus say Miami has the edge. Some say it's between Kentucky and Memphis.

Duren is expected to make his decision known soon.

The last in person evaluations for college coaching staffs was in March 2020, because of NCAA's pandemic-related travel restrictions on recruiting, when the prospects in the 2022 class were high school sophomores.

Following 16 months of inactivity on the recruiting trail with those COVID-19 restrictions, Kentucky's coaching staff was out in force and showing a united front in July, with Calipari, Antigua, Coleman and Lucas sharing the sidelines together for the first time.

The group made its collective recruiting debut at the Adidas showcase in Alabama during the first evaluation period, and they stayed busy throughout the month, with a major focus on the Nike league

games these past two weeks.

Calipari was around every time Shaedon Sharpe played in North Augusta the last two weeks.

The 6-5 guard has held a Kentucky scholarship offer since December and he had a big junior season.

From Ontario, Sharpe is a top 10 player nationally in the 247Sports composite rankings for 2022 recruits.

He is very skilled and a top-level athlete at his position, and he averaged 22.6 points and 5.8 rebounds a game during his 12-game Nike summer.

Sharpe is considered close to a lock to commit to the Wildcats, and he may make that decision before schools go back in session in August.

So, while there has been some drama with who's watching whom among top high school recruits, there's been no doubt that Kentucky was in the house.