IU makes final 5 for Kris Wilkes, Butler 'toughest cut'

Now the real battle begins for highly sought high school basketball prospect Kris Wilkes.

The North Central standout, ranked No. 15 on the 247sports national composite, cut his list to five schools on Sunday. Wilkes said he’d consider Indiana, Illinois, UCLA, UConn and Xavier moving forward.

“I think it came down to having strong relationships with those schools,” Wilkes said. “The times I have talked to them, I’ve been getting to know them better. Some of the other schools, I didn’t know them as well.”

Wilkes had been considering 11 schools. Cut from his list were Butler, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State and Washington. The 6-8 Wilkes said Butler was the toughest cut.

“I had a good relationship with them and I’d been talking to them for a long time,” he said. “That was one of the real hard ones.”

North Carolina recently came into the picture, and Wilkes tentatively had set an official visit for later this month. But he said he never fully connected with the Tar Heels.

“It probably wasn’t a good fit,” he said.

Indiana was the first program to offer Wilkes, who was named the Marion County Player of the Year as a junior. Though he doesn’t take many visits, he has been on the Bloomington campus several times going back to seventh grade.

“They’ve been there from the beginning,” he said. “They were my first offer and they’ve been around ever since. I think I have a good relationship with them and I’ll keep building a good relationship.”

Xavier also has been involved with Wilkes for several years. Indiana and Xavier also are in the mix for Southport guard Paul Scruggs, a close friend and travel teammate of Wilkes.

“Xavier is another one that has been there since the beginning,” he said. “I’ve got to know them more and more. They were always there in the front row for my games.”

Illinois has been after Wilkes for more than a year. UCLA offered Wilkes last August and will get Wilkes on campus for an official visit Sept. 23-24. UConn got involved over the summer after Kevin Ollie coached Wilkes during tryouts for the U-18 USA team.

Wilkes hasn’t visited UCLA or UConn. He said he’d like to take official visit to all five of his finalists before making a decision.

“I might cut it down to three before I decide or might just leave it at five,” he said. “I definitely feel good about those five schools. I feel like I have a good relationship with all five of them.”

Call IndyStar reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649. Follow him on Twitter: @KyleNeddenriep.