Kentucky basketball to face former commit whose father called UK coaches 'unprofessional'

LEXINGTON - Almost four years after committing to Kentucky basketball as a junior in high school, Mississippi State forward D.J. Jeffries will finally play in Rupp Arena Tuesday.

Jeffries committed to Kentucky in March 2018, shortly after leading Olive Branch High School to a Mississippi State championship. He was the first commitment in a UK 2019 recruiting class that would eventually include Tyrese Maxey, Keion Brooks, Johnny Juzang, Dontaie Allen and Kahlil Whitney.

The 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward remained committed to UK for four months before becoming the first player in the John Calipari era to decommit from Kentucky.

The situation quickly grew ugly when Jeffries' father ripped Kentucky coaches in a Memphis radio interview for how they handled the news.

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"They kind of shocked me," Corey Jeffries told the Jason & John Show on 92.9 FM in Memphis. "They were kind of unprofessional. So, if they come (back), they come. If they don’t, we’re fine with that too.

"They didn’t handle it the way I expected them to handle it, being professionals. I thought it would be handled better, but we’re not going to get into a mud-slinging contest with them. We’ll take the high road. That’s the way we were raised."

Jeffries' recruitment was long tied up with that of AAU teammate James Wiseman, the No. 1 ranked recruit in the class of 2019. Jeffries and Wiseman both eventually signed with Memphis, where their former AAU coach Penny Hardaway had recently been hired as head coach. Kentucky had been considered the favorite to land Wiseman until Memphis hired Hardaway.

After appearing in 47 games across two seasons at Memphis, Jeffries transferred to Mississippi State last spring. He has started all 18 games for the Bulldogs this season, averaging 10.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

"He’s certainly someone that has a big impact for their team," UK associate coach Orlando Antigua said of Jeffries Monday.

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Calipari has turned over his entire coaching staff since Jeffries' recruitment. In an interview with the Memphis Commercial Appeal after the July 2018 decommitment, Corey Jeffries clarified that it was assistant coach Tony Barbee, D.J.'s lead recruiter at Kentucky, and not Calipari who took the news badly in the initial phone conversation.

Barbee, who is now the head coach at Central Michigan, pushed back on that assertion in an interview with the Courier Journal later that summer.

"In general I’ve worked for Cal for a long time, I’ve recruited a lot of players for Cal, including a lot of the guys on this team. You’d be hard-pressed to find any players we’ve ever recruited, even the ones who decided not to come to Kentucky — a player or parent — who would say that we were ever unprofessional in our recruiting," Barbee said while cautioning he was not responding to the specific comment as NCAA rules prohibit coaches from commenting on unsigned recruits. "The way we approach recruiting is this is about the kids and their families and what’s best for them. Not about what’s best for us. Cal’s said it a million times: Kentucky is not for everybody. It takes a special breed to want to play here."

Kentucky may not have been for Jeffries, but he will have a chance Tuesday to prove he could have succeeded in the bright lights of Rupp Arena.

"He’s a very smart player," Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said of Jeffries Monday. "He’s a good all-around player. He can do a lot of everything — rebound, pass, handles the ball. One of our best defensive players and most versatile players. He can play multiple positions and defend multiple positions."

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: UK basketball: Former commit D.J. Jeffries plays for Mississippi State