International center says Kentucky dropped out of his recruitment

Recruiting players who are going through the NBA draft process can be tricky. If they pull out of the draft, teams can land a star player, but if they ultimately stay in, then there's a hole left on the roster, and the choices for filling it aren't great, as most of the players in the transfer portal have already committed.

That's the situation the Kentucky Wildcats find themselves in this offseason. They await a decision from center Malachi Moreno, who will return to Lexington if he returns to the college ranks, and Milan Momcilovic to hopefully be a star addition to the roster.

Another player going through the NBA draft process is European center Luigi Suigo. Kentucky contacted him last summer, looking to add him for the coming season, but once he entered the draft process, the Wildcats, along with several other schools, dropped out of the race for his services. The reason, according to Suigo, is that they didn't want to be left with a hole if he stayed in the draft.

It's a valid concern, especially for Kentucky, who is awaiting two other players already. According to Jonathan Givony, if he goes to college, it will likely be Villanova.

Players have until May 27 to pull out of the draft. Until then, Mark Pope and Kentucky are in a holding pattern for two big decisions. They decided not to make it three, and it's hard to blame them.

This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky basketball dropped out of recruitment of center Luigi Suigo