Transfer season is off and running as coaches are figuring out who to contact once the portal officially opens on April 7, but this is also when high school recruiting starts to heat up again. Ahead of the very busy few weeks, the Kentucky staff stopped to pay a visit to one of the top players in the 2027 class.
On Wednesday, Obinna Ekezie Jr., a top 3 prospect in the class of 2027, announced that Kentucky had conducted an in-home visit with him down in Florida. Ekezie is considered one of the staff’s top targets in the class and they are starting to show that as spring begins. The 7-foot big man out of Southeastern Prep has a bunch of other schools on his radar, including Maryland, Kansas, Alabama, Auburn, Arizona State, Louisville, Arkansas, Michigan and others.
I appreciate Coach Pope, Coach Fueger, and Coach McLean of Kentucky for coming by for an in-home visit. Blessed for the opportunity and great conversation 🙏 pic.twitter.com/wBT4pGi85W
— Obi (@ObinnaEkezieJr) April 1, 2026
As a fellow former big man, Mark Pope can relate to what Ekezie is going through, but he also knows how to utilize him the right way. In a previous interview with Kentucky Wildcats on SI, the 7-foot big man discussed Kentucky’s pitch to him. “(Mark Pope) talks about (his basketball career) a lot and utilzing me in their system,” Ekezie Jr. said. “He talks about how he utilized the bigs last year. That’s really what he tells me, how I’m gonna fit in their system and how they used their bigs (in 2024-25) and him also being a former big man.”…