Five-star recruit Caleb Holt shares his thoughts on his top schools

Mark Pope and the Kentucky staff have casted a very wide net in the class of 2026. Kentucky is involved with a number of top recruits in the class. The Wildcats are in good shape with one of them in particular. Kentucky Wildcats on SI recently spoke with 2026 top 5 guard Caleb Holt's father to get an update on where things stand in the top prospect's recruitment.

Holt, an Alalbama native, is receiving interest from a slew of top programs, including Kentucky, Kansas, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Baylor, Houston and North Carolina, among others. The five-star guard's father caught up with Kentucky Wildcats on SI to get a feel on some of the schools that are recruiting him the hardest.

1. Kentucky

"We've had great conversations," Holt's father said of he, Caleb and the Kentucky staff. "They made a home visit back in the spring and we talk to them a couple times a week at minimum, talk and text several times a week with that staff. They had a presence in Switzerland (USA U19), so they've done a good job of convincing us and intimating that Caleb's a priority for them. There's a real genuine interest from our perspective as well, and we sense that from them and they've convinced us of that."

2. Auburn and Alabama

"They've been recruited Caleb as early as even eighth grade. I would just say the compelling case for them is both of them are very reputable programs with a very proven record in recent years and they're close to home. They've both also expressed that Caleb's a very high priority, both schools, so we're considering them as well."

With Alabama and Kentucky both playing similar styles of basketball, Kentucky Wildcats on SI also asked Holt's father about the pace of play of the two programs and if that is intriguing to he and Caleb at all.

"Oh yeah, very intriguing," Holt said of Kentucky and Alabama's pace of play. "They both play very fast styles, and we, like a lot of the offensive concepts that both employ, for sure, Auburn plays a little more physical, and they, they get it done from a different perspective, but they're they're good at what they do as well and so that has this appeal as well. But yes, the fast pace is, is appealing for us."

Holt's father says he is planning to continue taking official visits in the fall. The 6-5 guard has taken just one official visit so far, which was to Ole Miss on Easter weekend, but more is on the docket. After his visit to Krntucky, Holt will take a visit to Alabama the first weekend in October as well as Auburn the week after his trip to Tuscaloosa.

The five-star guard plans to cut down his list of schools between mid-September and early October while continuing to take more visits to more of his top schools.