Kentucky Among a Trio of Recent Schools to Visit 5-Star Forward Marcus Spears Jr.

2027 five-star forward Marcus Spears Jr. isn’t seeing any new wave of interest or slowing in his recruitment. It’s all remaining steady as three schools recently visited with him at his high school.

The 6-foot-8, 170-pound small forward from Dynamic Prep (Plano, TX) told KSR that Kentucky, LSU, and Texas were recently in to see him. Those visits happened in the past month.

“Recruiting has been hot for a minute,” Spears said. “It hasn’t really slowed or started back up yet.”

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope was joined by assistant coaches Mo Williams and Mikhail McLean for his visit to Spears. Spears said they talked about life and basketball, ate some good food, and talked about the vision for the future.

“I mean, it’s Kentucky. Ultimately, you know what you’re getting. As I said, you have to go for the basketball. The crowd is good at any place,” Spears said. “I don’t think I’m going to go to a place where there are only 2,000 people in the arena. I’m not too worried about the crowd. I’m worried about what’s being put out on the floor, what’s being put out behind the scenes, and stuff like that. It’s just about the stuff I’m going to work on to get better at.”

Thoughts on the Other Two Schools

In addition to Kentucky, Marcus Spears Jr. shared his thoughts on the other two schools to visit with him recently. For LSU, it was assistant coach Johnny Jones who came to see him.

“It went good. I took a visit when the other coaching staff was there. I’m familiar with them. Obviously, I want to get back down there,” Spears said. “It’s a whole new coach, so I want to see what he does with his system and things like that. We had a good conversation. I know I like Louisiana, but ultimately, I’m going for basketball, not the city. I have to see if I like the ball. It’s been good conversations.”

As for the Texas visit at his school, UT sent two coaches. Those were head coach Sean Miller and assistant coach Ulric Maligi.

“I was talking to Coach Miller when he came earlier in the season. He said they were going to pick up slowly, but surely. That’s what they did. I realized that he knew what he was doing. They were struggling early, but they picked it up,” Spears said. “I really wanted to see if they were going to pick it up, and they did. That just shows how good a coach he is. He knows what he’s doing, so that was good. It was obviously a good talk. I like what they’re doing over there. It’ll be interesting.”

Spears doesn’t have a certain idea when, but he plans to name his top schools at some point. From there, he’ll set more visits.

“I wouldn’t say [a decision] is far down, but I wouldn’t say it’s close,” Spears said. “I feel like I’m going to commit when I’m ready. I’m not going to milk the clock just because. When I have that decision made, I’m going to do it.”

His Relationship With Ryan Hampton

Marcus Spears Jr. is cousins with five-star Kentucky target Ryan Hampton. While Spears has had his Kentucky offer for some time, Hampton recently earned his offer.

“It was big. He was happy,” Spears said. “It’s Kentucky, like I said. These are blessings that not everybody gets to have. We cherish them and make decisions based on how we like them.”

Spears and Hampton talked “every single day.” Last weekend, Hampton came to Spears’ house and stayed the night. Not long after, Spears stayed the night at Hampton’s home.

“I have a real tight connection with him. That’s my brother, for real,” he said. “We talk about it. We talk about basketball, we talk about games, we talk about life, and we talk about everything. That’s my brother, for real.”

Could that mean a package deal in college?

“We talk about it,” Spears said. “I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but we talk about it, for sure.”

Marcus Spears Jr.’s Game

Plano (Texas) Dynamic Prep five-star power forward Marcus Spears Jr. is the nation’s No. 3 overall prospect according to the Rivals Industry Ranking, an equally weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting services. Rivals ranks Spears as the No. 3 power forward and No. 8 overall player in the 2027 class.

“It’s a great experience [playing in front of so many high-level coaches]. I don’t want to say I’m used to it, but I’m kind of used to it from playing at Dynamic,” Spears said. “Last year, we had a lot of coaches [at our games]. I got over that factor of ‘Oh my god, this coach is watching.’ Instead, I’m just focusing on getting better. Obviously, it’s a cool experience because I’m blessed. Just a couple of years ago, I was nobody. To come this far, I’m for sure blessed.”