Kentucky Reportedly Interested in Former 5-Star Texas Commit Ron Holland
On April 28, 2023 5-star small forward Ron Holland shook up the college basketball world by reopening his recruitment, decommitting from the University of Texas.
Kentucky was in the running for Holland, as the Wildcats made the Duncanville, Texas native's top five schools before eventually being cut. He chose the Longhorns over UK, Arkansas, UCLA and the G League. He is rated as the No. 6 overall player in the 2023 class, per the On3 Consensus.
Holland took an official visit to Lexington on June 13, 2022. He was offered soon after, but Kentucky never felt like a frontrunner and was one of its only misses in the 2023 recruiting cycle that saw Calipari reel in four 5-stars and a homegrown 4-star. When his decommitment from Texas was announced, the Cats were immediately thrown out as a potential suitor.
On Sunday, CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reported that Kentucky was one of a few schools that had made early contact with the forward:
Holland is still considering Texas, but he joined 5-star 2023 point guard AJ Johnson as now former commits for the Longhorns, who made a head coaching change midseason, as current Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard was fired, with assistant Rodney Terry becoming the interim and then full-time skipper in Austin.
Stadium's Jeff Goodman has since reported that the G League and Arkansas are the early frontrunners to lock down Holland:
Kentucky is already welcoming the No. 1 class in the nation to Lexington for the 2023-24 season, as 5-stars DJ Wagner, Aaron Bradshaw, Justin Edwards and Rob Dillingham, as well as 4-star Reed Sheppard create a hyped quintet. Head coach John Calipari certainly wouldn't scoff at adding a player of Holland's caliber, however.
The Cats are still awaiting the decisions of shooting guard Antonio Reeves, forward Chris Livingston and big man Oscar Tshiebwe, all of whom are currently testing the NBA draft waters. UK has also had links with a couple of transfer portal entrants, though it isn't currently favored to bring any new faces to the Bluegrass via that route.
Holland is a name to keep tabs on as his re-opened recruitment takes shape.
More on the soon-to-be Wildcats HERE.
Inside Kentucky basketball's somber locker room after NCAA Tourney defeat HERE.
More on the potential roster overhaul in Lexington HERE.
More on the loss to Kansas State HERE.
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