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Competing for Top 10 Wings and Offer Information 2028

Posted on by angelo

For your convenience, we’ll begin doing weekly updates (and updates) on Kentucky women’s basketball recruiting here at KSR.

Earlier this week, we talked about two offers from Kentucky’s head coach Kenny Brooks sent. The first of those offers went to Trinity Jones, the No. 5 player in the 2026 class, according to ESPN. Jones becomes the second top-five player offered by the ‘Cats, the other being Olivia Vukosa. Jones holds offers from a plethora of schools, including South Carolina, LSU and Louisville.

Brooks also offered him his job in August of last year at Virginia Tech, so the connection between the two has been around for a while.

Then there’s Isabella Marion of the Class of 2027. The 6-foot-4 Danish forward is one of the best the country has to offer, even at just 15 years old. During the 2023 FIBA ​​U16 Women’s European Championship, Marion averaged 4.9 points, 2.3 blocks, 2.1 assists and 7.9 rebounds per game, which is enough to be in the top 10 of the test.

She currently holds offers from Ohio State, UNC and Colorado, among others. Additionally, she visited Virginia Tech last February. Expect this recruitment to be one Kentucky finds itself in until a commitment is made.

Laying the foundation for years to come

By making numerous offers in the 2026 and 2027 classes, it becomes clear that Brooks and the staff want to establish a foundation for recruiting not only for next season, but for the following years.

In addition to offers to Trinity Jones and Isabella Marion, Kentucky also offered Madeline Mignery, a Class of 2027 guard from Florida. She’s not ranked by ESPN yet, but don’t let that sway your opinion of Mignery’s quality.

After all, there is only one “Terrific 25” for 2027 so far. When the full top 100 is released, she will almost certainly be in that group. Mignery holds offers from Florida State, Miami and SMU, among others.

It should be noted that she already visited Kentucky last May. How can we know the chronology of the visit? Well, assistant coach Ciara Gregory, who was hired on May 1, appears in one of the photos from the visit.

Photo Josh Petersen, Radvile Autukaite, Madeline Mignery, Kenny Brooks, Lindsey Hicks and Ciara Gregory (left to right) by UK Athletics

Again, expect Kentucky to be competitive in this recruiting until the very end. Getting an offer and especially a visit this early is crucial. Mignery also visited Ole Miss in January, and she was on the Florida and Michigan campuses for camps and events before that.

Make a really, really big top 12 list

On Wednesday, one of the top high school players on the market released her list of the top 12 schools. That would be Creator of Agotthe No. 6 player and best winger in the 2025 class, according to ESPN.

In addition to the ‘Cats, Makerer is also considering Michigan State, UConn, UCLA, UNC, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Michigan, Duke, Virginia Tech, Louisville and Vanderbilt.

This is where things get interesting regarding Maker to Kentucky in particular.

The 1.85 Canadian has 12.1% odds on Kentucky. That may seem like low odds, and it is. However, those are also the highest odds. Michigan State is right behind at 10.6%.

What’s interesting is that Maker hasn’t publicly announced an offer since July 13 of last year, when it was offered by Purdue. She announced her offer from Kentucky on July 4, 2023. Obviously, Kenny Brooks wasn’t at Kentucky yet.

However, don’t let this completely dampen your hopes of Makerer becoming a “Cat.” She also never announced offers from UConn, UNC, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Duke, Virginia Tech, Louisville or Vanderbilt – eight of the teams in her top 12. She probably was made an offer, but she just hasn’t said it publicly.

Certainly, his recruitment remains a bit of a mystery, but the fact that Kentucky is in the top 12 is a positive point. We’ll see what happens soon enough. Brooks has yet to land a high school commitment from Kentucky, but that could change with Maker.

Intel Offers Class of 2028

On Thursday, Kentucky made its second offer of the 2028 class, this time to Ella Peper, a promising guard from Massachusetts. She currently holds offers from Florida State, Louisville and Michigan State, among others.

Additionally, Peper spoke with KSR about what it was like to receive an offer from Kentucky, as well as his recruitment in general.

“(Kenny Brooks and Radvile Autukaite) were great,” Peper said. “They had a great vibe and said they had been watching me for a while. We talked about how I recognized them from my game during the layup lines, and I was pretty excited because I knew who they were. They were fun and it was a great conversation overall.

It was about a 30-minute phone conversation that started with Coach Rad, and then Brooks joined shortly after the call began. On top of that, Peper plans to visit Kentucky at some point in the future.

“They told me they wanted me to visit and I said I would love to,” Peper revealed. “We are going to arrange a visit soon and I am really looking forward to it.”

When the time comes for Peper to choose where she will commit, she already knows what she has in mind: championships and a path to the WNBA.

“(I’m looking for) a very competitive, high-level program,” Peper said. “I want a good path to the W (NBA). It’s all about fit: where your game will show best. Location doesn’t matter. I want to compete for championships with a coach who allows me to be myself and thrive in his program.

She added: “I want to win at the highest level, and there are a lot of great options out there. I just enjoy getting to know them all and getting a sense of who they are from a young age.

If Kentucky can land Peper, it will have a fierce competitor with enormous potential.

Kentucky’s Outlook Roundup

2025

  • 5-star Winger Agot Makerer – No. 6 overall, No. 1 winger – Crestwood Prep (Canada)
  • 5-Star Guard ZaKiyah Johnson – No. 7 Overall, No. 4 Guard – Sacred Heart Academy (KY)
  • 5-Star Forward Kaelyn Carroll – No. 29 Overall, No. 7 Forward – Tabor Academy (MA)
  • 5-star wing Lauren Hurst – #35 overall, #8 wing – Cleveland High School (TN)
  • 4-Star Guard Adelaide Jernigan – No. 58 Overall, No. 24 Guard – Bishop McGuinness (NC)
  • 4-star point guard Bryn Martin – No. 61 overall, No. 25 point guard – No. Springboro (OH)
  • 4 Star Forward Manuella Alves – #64 Overall, #9 Forward – Central Pointe Christian Academy (FL)

2026

  • Olivia Vukosa, 5-Star Forward – No. 2 Overall, No. 1 Forward – Christ the King (FL)
  • 5-star guard Trinity Jones – No. 5 overall, No. 4 guard – Bolingbrook (IL)
  • 4-Star Point Guard Kate Harpring – No. 18 Overall, No. 2 Point Guard – Marist (GA)
  • 4-Star Point Guard Maddyn Greenway – No. 21 Overall, No. 3 Point Guard – Providence Academy (MN)
  • 4 Star Wing Bella Ragone – #26 Overall, #6 Wing – Mill Creek (GA)
  • 4-star guard Sanai Green – No. 29 overall, No. 12 guard – The Steward School (VA)

2027

  • 5-Star Guard Ivanna Wilson Manyacka – No. 2 Overall, No. 1 Guard – Bullis (MD)
  • Forward Isabella Marion – Unclassified (international) – Denmark
  • Guard Madeline Mignery – Unclassified – Cardinal Mooney (FL)

2028

  • Forward Sydney Douglas – Unranked (no ranking yet for 2028) – Etiwanda (CA)
  • Winger Ella Peper – Unranked (no rankings yet for 2028) – Dexter Southfield (MA)

(ESPN/HoopGurlz Rankings)