Big Blue Madness is back. And with it comes the chance for the Kentucky men’s basketball program to host several recruits in Lexington as the Wildcats hold their annual preseason kickoff event Friday night.
Things will, somewhat obviously, be different at this year’s edition of Madness, and that’s not just because of the tricked out court and LED floor that will be used inside Rupp Arena for the event.
Kentucky’s offseason coaching change from John Calipari to Mark Pope has come with a litany of changes, not the least of which was the tenor of Tuesday’s annual team media day.
But something that has remained the same despite the Calipari-to-Pope coaching transition is the standing of Big Blue Madness as a recruiting opportunity for Kentucky.
This is made clear by this year’s top visitor for Madness, four-star class of 2025 guard Acaden Lewis, who is taking the final official visit of his recruitment this week to Lexington.
As has been the case with other college programs, UK is also using Madness as an opportunity to introduce younger college basketball recruits to Kentucky, and all the spectacle that comes with being a Wildcat.
The Pope era of UK basketball will have another major moment Friday with his first Big Blue Madness. These recruits will be on hand for the event, and like everyone else, they’ll be keeping a close eye on how things go.
Acaden Lewis tops list of UK visitors for Big Blue Madness
As previously mentioned, Lewis is the visitor to know for this year’s edition of Big Blue Madness.
A 6-foot-2 guard from Washington, D.C., Lewis is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a four-star prospect and as the No. 36 overall recruit in the 2025 class.
Lewis is a strong contender to join Kentucky’s 2025 recruiting group, which already includes five-star guard Jasper Johnson and five-star center Malachi Moreno. Lewis — who is still considering Duke, Kentucky and two-time defending national champion UConn for college — would be the first recruit landed by Pope without previous ties to the commonwealth.
Johnson is a son of Dennis Johnson (the former UK football star) and he began his high school basketball career at Woodford County in Versailles. Moreno plays at Great Crossing in Georgetown and is the preseason favorite to be named the 2025 Kentucky Mr. Basketball.
Lewis has already taken official visits to both of his other finalists. He was at UConn in September and he was at Duke earlier this month for the Blue Devils’ annual preseason kickoff event, known as Countdown to Craziness.
The left-handed Lewis is expected to commit to a college this fall. He was previously on campus at Kentucky in June on an unofficial visit, during which he picked up his UK scholarship offer.
“He’s just a great guy. Really genuine, and he’s preaching that I can come in and play right away,” Lewis told the Herald-Leader in July about Pope, UK’s new coach. “That’s something, obviously, everybody wants to hear going to the next level. But I really believed it, it seemed genuine.”
UConn has just one 2025 commit, five-star guard Darius Adams.
On Friday morning, Duke got commitments from five-star guard Cayden Boozer and five-star power forward Cameron Boozer. These prospects are the twin sons of former Duke basketball legend and NBA all-star Carlos Boozer, and the Boozer twins picked Duke over hometown Miami (Fla.).
The commitment of Cayden to Duke could cause a ripple effect that improves UK’s chances with Lewis.
Duke and Kentucky are now the only schools with multiple commitments from players ranked in the top 25 of the 247Sports Composite for the 2025 class.
Lewis emerged as a recruiting target for Pope earlier this year after putting on some dominant displays while playing for Team Durant on the Nike grassroots circuit and at the NBPA Top 100 Camp, which is considered a top evaluation setting.
On the Nike circuit, Lewis averaged 16.7 points, 6.1 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. At the NBPA Top 100 Camp, Lewis was an all-star performer who averaged more than 15 points and nearly 4 assists per game.