Class of 2024 Kentucky basketball recruit Tahaad Pettiford makes college commitment
Another top men’s basketball recruit in the class of 2024 has made a college commitment, and once again Kentucky was not the choice.
Tahaad Pettiford — a point guard from New Jersey that is ranked as the No. 22 player overall in the class by the 247Sports Composite — committed to Auburn on Wednesday.
Pettiford made his college commitment live on the 247Sports channel. The 5-foot-11 point guard hasn’t played yet as a high school junior due to a torn meniscus, which required surgery.
Pettiford is the second class of 2024 player to turn down Kentucky in recent weeks.
In January, Ian Jackson — a shooting guard from New York City who was Kentucky’s top recruiting target in the 2024 class — chose North Carolina over the Wildcats, among others.
Pettiford’s college choice on Wednesday wasn’t a surprise.
While seven schools made Pettiford’s list of possible college choices from January — Auburn, Kansas, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Seton Hall, UCLA and UConn — he took only one official college visit: to Auburn in September.
Additionally, Pettiford drastically sped up his commitment timeline prior to making his pledge to head coach Bruce Pearl’s program.
Pettiford went from planning to make his college decision in April (and possibly visiting Kentucky before then) to announcing his college choice at the start of February.
Pettiford is Auburn’s second commitment in the class of 2024, joining four-star center Peyton Marshall.
Kentucky is still without a commitment for 2024 after missing on Jackson and Pettiford, although the former was a far more significant recruiting miss than the latter.
KENTUCKY’S RECRUITING OUTLOOK FOR 2024 CLASS
Here’s a look at the 13 class of 2024 players that hold a scholarship offer from Kentucky.
Three of these players (Airious Bailey, Jackson and Pettiford) have already committed to a college basketball program.
▪ PG Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn)
▪ SG Ian Jackson (North Carolina)
▪ SG Isaiah Elohim
▪ SG Billy Richmond
▪ CG Boogie Fland
▪ SF Naas Cunningham
▪ SF Trentyn Flowers
▪ SF Karter Knox
▪ SF Airious Bailey (Rutgers)
▪ SF Amier Ali
▪ C Flory Bidunga
The Wildcats are expected to now prioritize Tre Johnson (the top-ranked player in the 2024 class) and Boogie Fland (a top-10 player in the class) among this group of players, specifically in the backcourt.
Johnson visited Kentucky last weekend for UK’s home game against Kansas, which featured an on-court introduction for two UK class of 2023 signees: Robert Dillingham and Reed Sheppard.
