Positive updates on Jalen Duren and Dare Rosenthal

UPDATE

Now that Jalen Duren’s official visit with the Wildcats has concluded, we’ve got photos of the No. 1 overall recruit rocking Kentucky blue, and it’s beautiful.

Now, we wait.

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks in Lexington now that recruiting visits are taking place while NIL gets sorted out.

For the football Wildcats, things continue to move in a positive direction with LSU Tigers transfer Dare Rosenthal.

Not long after the big-time offensive tackle entered the portal, it became clear Kentucky was going to be a major player in his recruitment.

Now, it appears Mark Stoops’ program is the favorite for Rosenthal heading into the home stretch.

Rivals football recruiting guru Mike Farrell just did a Fact or Fiction piece on the top players in the transfer portal. When it came to Rosenthal, he made a prediction that sounds excellent to the Big Blue Nation.

“Baylor is involved here, and I have heard Miami likes him as well, but I’d be surprised if he didn’t end up at Kentucky and perhaps push the Wildcats to the top of the nation’s offensive line rankings,” Farrell wrote.

Adding Rosenthal would likely solve one of Kentucky's position battles at right tackle after Darrian Kinnard moved to left tackle. It would also ensure Kentucky’s offensive line remains among the best in the SEC, and perhaps all of college football.

You read more on Farrell’s transfer predictions here.

On the basketball side of things, the BBN has its eyes on two people and the decisions yet to be made.

One is Davion Mintz, who has until July 7^th to pull his name out of the NBA Draft and return to Kentucky.

The other is 2022 No. 1 overall recruit Jalen Duren, who is expected to make the jump to the 2021 class.

Duren just finished up his official visit to Lexington, and from all indications, that visit went very well.

The next thing to keep an eye out for is Duren is set to trim his list of 11 options to five on Friday.

Rivals basketball recruiting analyst Rob Cassidy talked about Duren’s recruitment and what we could see in his updated list on Friday, which included a positive nugget on Kentucky.

“Three programs seem like locks to make the list, based on interviews with Duren and the visits he’s taken so far. Expect Miami and Duren’s former grassroots coach, D.J. Irving, to make the cut. Kentucky, which looks like the current college favorite, is a safe bet to be left standing as well. Duren has long been high on Michigan, so Juwan Howard’s program will likely be in the mix as well.”

A lot of people have believed that Memphis is right there as one of the top college options, but Cassidy believes they are just a “filler” right now.

Despite all of the recent college momentum, Cassidy does see the professional route as the favorite. However, he notes that the new NIL rules set to take place July 1^st could change that belief.

The big takeaway and the positive news for Kentucky is that not only will they most likely be on the new list Friday, but Cassidy believes they are the college favorite if Duren decides to take the college route.

You can see everything Rob Cassidy had to say here.

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