Four-star JUCO guard Mulder picks Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. – John Calipari needed a win. The University of Kentucky's Hall of Fame basketball coach and recruiter extraordinaire had suffered an unusual losing streak in recent weeks as three five-star targets picked other programs: Stephen Zimmerman to UNLV, Malik Newman to Mississippi State and Brandon Ingram to Duke.

And within an hour, while no one knew it yet, he'd lose another one when McDonald's All-American Cheick Diallo chose Kansas on Tuesday afternoon. So, yeah, Calipari needed a victory earlier in the day as four-star prospect Mychal Mulder, a junior-college shooting guard from Vincennes (Ind.) University, sat down at the podium to announce his decision.

Although Indiana, Wichita State and Creighton had all recruited Mulder much longer – he only got an offer from the Wildcats in the last month – one finally went the Wildcats' way. Strange as that is to say, he was the first recruit to pick Kentucky since mid-November. And the Cats need players after seven of their underclassmen declared for the NBA draft.

"(Calipari) told me there is an opportunity there for me and it's my choice to grab it. That's all I ever wanted," Mulder said. "It was a tough decision for me. A lot of great people recruited me. I just thought at the end of the day, Kentucky, playing there was probably my best chance of continuing my career after college. I hope to play professionally one day, and I felt like that would probably be my best opportunity."

So he became the fourth member of Kentucky's 2015 signing class, joining three high school seniors: five-star recruits Skal Labissiere and Isaiah Briscoe and four-star Charles Matthews. Despite recent frustrations, that's a consensus top-three class nationally. Mulder is a nice complementary piece.

As a 6-foot-4 sophomore at Vincennes last season, he averaged 15.7 points and 6.4 rebounds and made 88 of 190 3-point attempts (46.3 percent). Mulder helped lead his team to a 33-2 record, earned JUCO All-America honors and is rated the 13th-best junior-college prospect in the country by 247Sports.com's composite ranking.

He visited UK over the weekend – where he was hosted by rising junior forward Marcus Lee – and called a press conference to announce his decision immediately upon returning.

Jerry Meyer, national recruiting analyst for 247Sports, said Mulder could "sort of fill that role that Devin Booker played, although I'm not saying they're the exact same player. Mulder's a little bit more on the athletic side and probably not the shooter Devin Booker is, because not many people in this world are the type of shooter he is.

"But from everything I'm hearing, (Mulder) is a legit four-star and I think he'd be a great addition."

The Wildcats are still pursuing five-star forward Jaylen Brown and will be in on five-stars Thon Maker and Jamal Murray if they reclassify. UK also just extended a scholarship offer to three-star N.C. State commitment Shaun Kirk on Monday night. But with Mulder's pledge, the 2014-15 roster is now in decent shape, depth-wise.

UK has nine true scholarship players, plus former walk-on E.J. Floreal, who was put on scholarship last season. There are five five-star recruits, two four-star prospects and a pair of former Kentucky Mr. Basketball finalists (one winner). As it stands, the Cats would have a senior, four juniors, one sophomore and three freshmen in that group.

As for Mulder: "I know it'll be a big jump, but I wouldn't want it easy," he said. "I think I'll fit in well. I'm going to bring the winning attitude that I learned here and try to carry that over there. I know they're all about winning."

Kyle Tucker can be reached at (502) 582-4361. Follow him on Twitter @KyleTucker_CJ.

KENTUCKY'S 2015-16 ROSTER SO FAR

* Using Rivals.com national recruiting rankings

PG Tyler Ulis – 5-star, No. 21 overall in 2014

SG Isaiah Briscoe – 5-star, No. 10 overall in 2015

SF Alex Poythress – 5-star, No. 8 overall in 2012

PF Marcus Lee – 5-star, No. 19 overall in 2013

C Skal Labissiere – 5-star, No. 1 overall in 2015

SG Mychal Mulder – 4-star, JUCO All-American

SG Charles Matthews – 4-star, No. 48 overall in 2015

PF Derek Willis – 3-star, No. 115 overall in 2013

SG Dominique Hawkins – 3-star, Mr. Basketball in 2013