Reporter believes Kentucky’s chances with Nikola Kusturica are fading
Ben Roberts believes Kentucky Basketball is no longer in the running for key Euro wing Nikola Kusturica.
Messageboards and social media were ablaze when it seemed Nikola Kusturica was on the verge of joining Kentucky Basketball. The 17-year-old pro is being called “one of the top international prospects in the world.”
One reporter at the Lexington Herald-Leader believes Kentucky’s chances have evaporated in the summer heat.
On ESPN Radio this week, Ben Roberts said, “I got absolutely bombarded with a flurry of text messages… they were hearing Kusturica to Kentucky was, for lack of a better phrase, a done deal…I don’t expect him to be here,” he finished.
But does that mean much in the grand scheme of things?
Nikola Kusturica plays the same way as those already on the roster
Kusturica is a 6-foot-8 wing who can pass, shoot, and make plays for others. You want as many of those as you can get, but Kentucky already has Kam Williams, Braydon Hawthorne, Zoom Diallo, and Alex Wilkins all at 6-foot-6 or taller with similar profiles. Williams, Diallo, and Wilkins have proven they can compete at the college level, while Hawthorne’s redshirt gives him a leg up.
So, I don’t want to see any of that “whiff” stuff pop up. Would it have been nice for Kentucky to land another playmaker who is seen as a future pro?
Of course, I would be dumb to say anything different. But honestly, this wasn’t as big a miss as rival programs will make it out to be.
And just to be a matter of fact, Dusty May leaving Michigan may open things up in his recruitment again. Maybe Kentucky sneaks back in, maybe not. But one thing is for sure: anytime Mark Pope recruits a guy and doesn’t land him, the Louisville and Tennessee fans will crawl from under their rocks to hiss and laugh, and then quietly slink back to being nothing more than trolls.
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