Wildcats want Kai

KENTUCKY assistant coach Payne (left) talks to Kai Sotto and his father, Erwin, in a recent recruiting visit.

Will Kai Sotto be the next important big man of Kentucky University?

That could be a strong possibility after the 7-foot-2 former Ateneo de Manila star paid the Wildcats an informal recruiting visit in their campus in Lexington.

Together with his father, former Philippine Basketball Association slotman Erwin, Sotto met Kentucky coach John Calipari and assistant Kenny Payne, who showed him around the campus while introducing what the program can do to boost his dream of making it to the NBA.

Kentucky has produced a lot of NBA stars.

Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins of the Los Angeles Lakers are their biggest products together with Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, John Wall of the Washington Wizards, Eric Bledsoe of the Milwaukee Bucks and Julius Randle of the New York Knicks.

In its wall, the Wildcats put on a giant poster of all the current NBA stars that they produced, giving Sotto an idea on where he would end up should he decides to sign up with them.

“He’s a big-time prospect,” said Evan Daniels, an analyst of 247 Sports who first reported about the recruiting visit last Monday.

“He’s a legitimate seven-footer and, for his size, has a very good mobility and a very good set of hands with a nice touch around the basket.”

“He also got some scoring moves in his arsenal. He can step away from the rim and play the high post or he can make jumpers all the way from high-school three-point line. The offensive package is pretty advance and he continues to get better.”

Sotto has been a regular fixture in international age-group tourneys.

In the FIBA U19 World Cup in Greece, he averaged 11.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game. He jacked his scoring to 16.4 points when he played against kids his age in the FIBA U17 tournament recently.