Kentucky Wildcats crack top ten for elite Class of 2027 forward

AJ Williams is down to ten, and Mark Pope's Kentucky Wildcats are among those listed.

Pope hasn't had the best luck recruiting since making the jump to Kentucky, but things are starting to change. The addition of Class of 2027 forward Ryan Hampton marked a huge win for Pope and his staff, and there have been plenty of other elite recruits that are still including Kentucky as they start to narrow their options down.

Williams was one of the latest to drop an updated list of where he's going to play next season, and listed as the top player from Georgia and the second-best small forward, every program in the nation would love to attract the 6-foot-7 star. Here's the list: BYU, Georgia, Mississippi State, Illinois, Duke, Auburn, Kentucky, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Georgia Tech. It's an interesting list, one that doesn't include other blue-blood programs like Michigan State or Kansas.

Williams is going to finish up his high school career at Eagle's Landing Christian Academy. He's been ranked as the fifth-best player in the nation, per 247Sports, and was the top player in the Class of 2028 before reclassifying. There's good reason to believe that the 17-year-old forward could be the best player in the class as well. He dominated the Nike EYBL 17U circuit.

"Williams, 17, played on the Nike EYBL 17U circuit this summer with Team CP3 and established himself as one of the league's most productive scorers. He averaged 20.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 41.8 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from 3-point range," Tobias Bass and Brendan Marks of the New York Times wrote.

The excitement around the star forward is real, and hopefully he'll be able to bring that to Kentucky next season.