Class of 2017 standout Hamidou Diallo publicly committed to Kentucky on Saturday and will enroll next week. But the five-star prospect is not expected to play for the Wildcats until next season.
Diallo is 10th in 247Sports' Class of 2017 rankings.
He chose Kentucky over Connecticut.
Diallo is able to enroll in college now, even though he's technically a Class of 2017 prospect, because he graduated from Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut last spring. The 6-foot-5 wing initially opted to do a post-graduate year at Putnam Science Academy and just enroll in college in advance of the 2017-18 season. But earlier this month, after he made it through the NCAA's academic clearing house, Diallo started considering enrolling in college mid-semester. And, obviously, that's what he's now decided to do.
Class of 2017 star Austin Wiley did something similar last month. The 6-11 center enrolled at Auburn mid-semester. He's currently playing for the Tigers and averaging 7.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
Diallo is the fifth five-star prospect from the Class of 2017 to commit to Kentucky. The others are Nick Richards (No. 14), P.J. Washington (No. 15), Jarred Vanderbilt (No. 20) and Quade Greene (No. 24). The Wildcats also have a commitment from Shai Alexander, a four-star combo guard rated 43rd. So Kentucky's class consists of six top-45 national recruits. It's the top-ranked recruiting class in the country.
Here is Kentucky's recruiting class rankings since John Calipari took over:
- 2009: No. 1
- 2010: No. 1
- 2011: No. 1
- 2012: No. 1
- 2013: No. 1
- 2014: No. 2
- 2015: No. 1
- 2016: No. 2
- 2017: No. 1
In other words, Kentucky has had the nation's top-ranked recruiting class in seven of the past nine years and never finished lower than second. In the two years UK was second, Duke was first.