Karter Knox commits to Kentucky men’s basketball, continuing a family legacy in Lexington

The Kentucky men’s basketball program now has a sixth commitment lined up for next season, and this most recent pledge will be a familiar name for Wildcats fans.

Karter Knox — a 6-foot-6, 226-pound prospect in the 2024 recruiting class — committed Saturday night to join UK and head coach John Calipari for the 2024-25 season.

Knox announced his commitment to the Cats during halftime of a game at Overtime Elite (OTE), the Atlanta-based program where Knox is spending his final prep basketball season.

“Coach Calipari, he’s sent a lot of people to the league, and I want to be a pro. He told me he’s gonna make me a pro,” Knox said during the announcement. “So I’m ready to hoop and win a national championship.”

The announcement also came just hours after the 2023-24 version of the Wildcats scored an impressive road win at No. 4 Tennessee.

Kentucky was picked by Knox from a small list of post-high school playing options that initially included Louisville, South Florida and the NBA’s G League Ignite program. The Ignite was replaced by OTE as a final option at the time Knox made his decision.

Knox, a small forward who is ranked as the No. 19 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class by the 247Sports Composite, is a younger brother of former UK one-and-done star Kevin Knox, who helped lead the Wildcats to the 2018 SEC Tournament title and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Knox, who earlier this year was named a 2024 McDonald’s All-American, was one of the top uncommitted prospects left in the 2024 recruiting class.

At OTE, Knox is teammates on the RWE squad with center Somto Cyril, who was Kentucky’s first commitment in the 2024 class. Knox’s announcement that he will be coming to Kentucky came during halftime of RWE’s second game in the OTE Finals.

Family ties to Kentucky have offered Knox plenty of chances to become familiar with Calipari and the UK program, and he recently got a final, up-close look at what the Wildcats have to offer.

Knox took an official visit to UK in January and was in attendance for Kentucky’s big home win over Georgia, a rollicking evening that featured the debut of freshman center Zvonimir Ivisic and a celebration of UK’s 1984 Final Four squad.

“Coach Cal is a good coach. Probably one of the greatest coaches in college basketball. He coached my brother, Kevin, and got him prepared for the league. He is over there coaching D.J. Wagner, and we were on the same USA team. D.J. is going to be a lottery pick,” Knox told the Herald-Leader and other reporters following that visit.

The Recruiting Services Consensus Index (RSCI), which takes all of the rankings from the nation’s top recruiting services and combines them into one single metric, ranks Knox as the No. 11 overall recruit in the 2024 class.

Knox’s commitment to Kentucky further fortifies what was already another stellar recruiting class for Calipari and the Cats.

According to the RSCI, Kentucky now has the following players committed for next season:

▪ Jayden Quaintance (center): No. 7 recruit in 2024 class;

▪ Karter Knox (small forward): No. 11 recruit in 2024 class;

▪ Boogie Fland (combo guard): No. 20 recruit in 2024 class;

▪ Billy Richmond (wing): No. 29 recruit in 2024 class;

▪ Somto Cyril (center): No. 53 recruit in 2024 class;

▪ Travis Perry (guard): No. 81 recruit in 2024 class.

The quartet of Cyril, Fland, Perry and Quaintance have all signed their national letters of intent to play at UK in a few months’ time.

Richmond committed to Kentucky in December. Both Knox and Richmond must wait until at least April to officially sign the paperwork tying them to the UK program.

It’s also worth noting that due to his age, Quaintance isn’t eligible for the NBA draft until 2026, which means he could be a two-year addition for Kentucky.

Three of Kentucky’s six freshmen next season will have been selected as 2024 McDonald’s All-Americans: Fland, Knox and Quaintance.

Karter Knox commitment boosts several connections for Kentucky

Knox’s commitment to Kentucky means plenty from an on-court and off-court recruiting perspective.

On the floor, Knox is a three-level scorer who has been focused on defense and other aspects of his game this season at OTE.

“He can definitely shoot it … Karter is in transition and he’s learning who he is as a basketball player,” Corey Frazier, Knox’s head coach at OTE, told the Herald-Leader in December. “Finding his strengths and his weaknesses: When your shot is not going, how can we help you evolve to be a different type of player.”

Last year on the grassroots Nike EYBL circuit, Knox averaged more than 19 points and 4 rebounds per game. During the OTE regular season, Knox averaged more than 23 points and 5 rebounds per contest.

Off the court, it’s impossible to overlook the family connections Calipari continues to foster in Lexington.

In each of the last three recruiting classes, Kentucky has brought in a player whose father played under Calipari at Memphis. In 2022, it was Adou Thiero. In 2023, it was D.J. Wagner. In 2024, Richmond will fill that role.

And now Knox is also part of the 2024 recruiting class after watching one of his older brothers blossom into an NBA draft lottery pick under Calipari’s tutelage in Lexington.

“(Calipari) knows what he’s doing. He has been in the game for too long. … (The visit) was definitely a great experience. When I was a kid and seeing my brother take pictures – It was really crazy, (and) now I am really doing it. … I’m the one that’s in the Kentucky uniform taking pictures,” Knox said in January. “I never really imagined it, but all the work paid off.”

The 2024 recruiting class will also again feature strong ties between Kentucky and OTE.

Current star Kentucky freshman guard Rob Dillingham came to Lexington after spending one season at OTE, and both Cyril and Knox will arrive in Central Kentucky after spending this season as teammates on the same OTE team.

There’s also the in-state rivalry aspect of securing Knox’s commitment over Louisville.

The Cardinals are mired in basketball purgatory at the moment, with head coach Kenny Payne continuing to produce awful on-court results. Louisville has finished last in the ACC regular season standings in each of Payne’s two seasons as head coach.

Louisville finished the 2023-24 regular season on Saturday with a Senior Night home loss to Boston College: The Cardinals have lost seven straight games and are 8-23 this season.

And the immediate future doesn’t look good for the Cardinals, either.

U of L doesn’t have a single signee in the 2024 recruiting class: Three-star point guard TJ Robinson is Louisville’s only commit in the 2024 recruiting class, but he is yet to sign with the Cardinals.

Knox was viewed as a potential panacea for the Cardinals (and Payne), and was a legitimate recruiting target thanks to the Knox family’s close relationship with Payne: When Kevin Knox was a Wildcat during the 2017-18 season, Payne was UK’s associate head coach. Payne also later worked with Kevin with the NBA’s New York Knicks.

Knox even took an official visit to Louisville in December, amid some of the worst struggles of Payne’s tenure.

Despite all of that, UK has emerged victorious in a Knox recruitment for a second time.

UK, John Calipari set to bring in top freshman talent in 2024

With significant turnover expected in the UK roster from this season to next — Kentucky boasts a mountain of likely NBA draft picks this year, and fifth-year players Tre Mitchell and Antonio Reeves will both be out of college eligibility after this season — Knox’s arrival will further replenish the Wildcats’ talent level for the 2024-25 season.

UK’s six projected freshmen for next season span all areas of the court:

Fland will be the primary ball handler. Perry projects best as a shooter with the ability to score in a variety of catch-and-shoot situations. Knox and Richmond are versatile players with a blend of size and scoring acumen. Cyril is a traditional big who boasts impressive strength. Quaintance is viewed as a modern-basketball big who boasts the ability to “dribble, pass and shoot,” as Calipari has often said this season.

The addition of Knox also means Kentucky is likely to have the second-best recruiting class in the country next season.

Duke holds the top spot with six commits, including small forward Cooper Flagg — the early favorite to be the top pick in what’s considered a strong 2025 NBA draft — and Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 center who committed to the Blue Devils last week. Maluach also considered Kentucky in his recruitment.

UK is second in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings for the 2024 class: UK is behind Duke (first) and ahead of Rutgers (third).

Since 2011, UK finished with the top-ranked recruiting class on six occasions (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2020 and 2023). Duke has topped this list five times (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022) and appears set to make it six times with this 2024 class.

Kentucky is now tied with Duke and Purdue for the most freshman commits (six) for next season.

Top recruit Karter Knox picked UK basketball as his college destination. He explains why.

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What will elite center Jayden Quaintance bring to Kentucky after committing to the Wildcats?

Top-ranked guard Boogie Fland commits to Kentucky. What does it mean for UK basketball?

Somto Cyril has size and strength. But there’s more to the future Kentucky Wildcat.