Tyrese Maxey is on the Recruiting Trail

The No. 8 overall prospect in ESPN's 2019 recruiting rankings and current Kentucky Wildcat commit, Tyrese Maxey, has been leading the recruiting trail for his new team despite missing out on James Wiseman in November. Maxey, the second-highest rated shooting guard in his class, was pushing hard to land a commitment from Wiseman but didn't get discouraged when the nation's top recruit chose the Memphis Tigers instead. "It’s like that sometimes,” said Maxey, who plays for South Garland High School out of Texas. “At the end of the day he [Wiseman] had to do what was right for him and I respect that. He’s still my man.” Maxey headlines a Kentucky recruiting class currently ranked fifth overall by ESPN, joined by Khalil Whitney (No. 10) and Kentucky native Dontaie Allen (No. 91). But Maxey, following in his future head coaches footsteps, isn't satisfied just yet. According to an interview with USA Today, Maxey is still recruiting Keion Brooks (No. 34) and Isaiah Stewart (No. 5) - both teammates out of La Lumiere School in Indiana - along Jaden McDaniels (No. 6) out of Federal Way in Washington and Matthew Hurt (No. 7) out of John Marshall High School in Minnesota. “I need those guys with me,” Maxey said. “I gave it my best shot with James and that’s all I can do. I pretty much knew that he was gonna go there, but I had to go hard at him anyway. Now I’m gonna focus on these guys and try and build a great team for the BBN fans next season.” Stewart is expected to announce his decision on ESPN on Sunday with most projections pointing towards him selecting Washington. Brooks' announcement could be made public sometime soon, as well. As for McDaniels and Hurt, we are still hoping Maxey's pitches can be enough to convince one (or both) of them to wear the blue and white next season in Lexington. Even if his efforts prove to be all for nothing, Maxey buying into Kentucky 100 percent should be the most important takeaway from all of this. He's clearly extremely committed to Kentucky and wants to build something special for what will likely be his only season as a Wildcat. If he can bring along a couple of five-star recruits with him, I'm all for it.