One of Kentucky Basketball’s top recruiting targets is off the board.
Joson Sanon, viewed as a consensus top-15 prospect in the class of 2025, has committed to the Arizona Wildcats.
Sanon also announced he will reclassify to the 2024 class, which will likely change his recruiting ranking. He’ll be eligible to enroll in college this summer.
Sanon was one of Kentucky’s top targets in whichever class he ended up in. At the beginning of the month, he visited Lexington to watch Kentucky defeat Vanderbilt in Rupp Arena on Senior Night.
Hailing from Vermont, Sanon is known in recruiting circles as a volume scorer capable of scoring at all three levels. He chose Arizona over Kentucky, Boston College, Kansas, Connecticut, Louisville, and Indiana. Sanon was also reportedly considering Overtime Elite.
While Kentucky was on the list, there was never a public mention of a Kentucky offer.
Sanon becomes the fourth member of Arizona’s 2024 recruiting class, which includes Carter Bryant (ranked 19th overall by 247 Sports), Jamari Phillips (ranked 36th overall), and 7-footer Emmanuel Stephen (ranked 91st overall).
Sanon came in as a bit of a surprise in the Kentucky Basketball recruiting world, so it’s not a major loss. However, he has the potential to be a guy who lights up the scoreboard for Arizona next season.
Kentucky will now likely turn more attention to the transfer portal in hopes of filling out a roster that’s likely losing most of the current team for next season.
Nevertheless, it is no secret that this Kentucky team has the tools to make a deep run and even cut down the nets in Phoenix if they can put together a sharp six-game run on both ends of the floor.
However, their current odds heading into Thursday do not resemble one of a team that many have a ton of faith in.
According to DraftKings, Kentucky currently has the fourth-best odds in the South Region to make a run to the Final Four, sitting at +700. Ahead of them is Houston (+140), while Marquette and Duke are tied at +550.
John Calipari’s squad has shown the ability to score with anyone in the country and has one of the better resumes coming into the tournament when you look at overall wins. Honestly, it’s just a question of whether the defense will show up.
Time to go prove everyone wrong and make a run.
Go Cats!
