It’s very hard to make sense of all that has happened in the last month, so I’ll just break down the targets one by one.

STACEY POOLE

I put Poole first because I believe he will be the first domino to fall. If you believe what you read on Twitter (and for my money, Twitter blows MSNBC and Fox News out of the water when it comes to accuracy), Poole will make his announcement tomorrow to either Kentucky or South Carolina. The announcement is supposed to be broadcast on ESPNU. Now then, common sense dictates that if he were going to make this announcement on television, it would most likely be for Kentucky. Add that to the fact that Carolina had just recently signed a wing player of his size and the logic all points in Kentucky’s direction. I want this kid really bad. I’ve heard people say we should be putting the full court press on another 5-star kid instead of Poole, which is ludicrous. Is there really that much of a difference between a high-end 4-star player and a low-end 5-star player? No, there is not. Ignore the 27 by the name and watch Poole play. The kid can fill it up. To be fair, there isn’t as much video for Poole as you would find for John Wall, but it doesn’t take long to find out that the kid can fill it up. And he’s got genetics on his side as well. I might be fairly young, but I remember Stacey Poole Sr. when he played at Florida, and that guy could fill it up. Look at the wing guys on this year’s roster. Darius Miller is a jack of all trades. Darnell Dodson has the label of a shooter, and so does Jon Hood. Now all three guys might have days where they score a lot of points, but they probably won’t be labeled a scorer. Poole is a scorer, plus he seems to have that intangible off the court that guys like Anthony Epps and Chuck Hayes had. Like I said, I want this kid, and I think we’ll have him by the end of the week. As a sidenote, how did Florida not jump all over this guy? His dad is only a top 5 all-time scorer there. What’s the deal, Donovan?

CJ LESLIE

Coach Cal is going after several bigger forwards, but of those forwards, CJ Leslie is the one I like the best, and the one I think Cal has the best chance at landing. Leslie plays at Word of God Academy in Raleigh, which means he’s spent the last few years as the recipient of lob passes from John Wall. He has power forward skills despite not having the ideal power forward body. He’s got good length to grab every rebound and block every shot in sight, and he can dunk. Much like John Wall, his highlight reel consists mostly of dunks, so I have no idea what other offensive skills he possesses. I do know that when Kentucky first became a player for CJ Leslie, he was a 4-star recruit and he’s since gone up to a 5-star. That’s the one trend about Calipari’s targets so far: They jump up in the rankings. There will be a huge void at power forward after this season with the graduation of Perry Stevenson and Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins expected to go pro. Leslie fills the void as well as anybody. According to Rivals, his list consists of Kentucky and North Carolina, and only Kentucky has offered so far.

TOBIAS HARRIS

If Leslie decides to go elsewhere, then this is the recruit I’d love to see in Kentucky blue. The biggest reason I like Harris is because he made one of the biggest jumps in the rankings of any player I’ve seen in recent years. He was featured on ESPNU not too long ago where he played against the #1 player in the 2011 class, Michael Gilchrist, who everybody has said is a strong UK lean. Harris was by far the most impressive player on the court that day. However, I do believe it will be tough to get him out of Big East country, as he has seven different Big East schools on his list.

ADREIAN PAYNE

Payne is the only center being targeted this year, and it’s going to be a huge test of Coach Cal’s recruiting prowess. Despite weighing only 215 pounds, Payne is listed as a pure center and not a combo guy. Besides Kentucky, Payne also has offers from Arizona, Kansas, Michigan State and West Virginia. Payne is supposed to visit Kansas at the end of October, and he’s supposedly already visited Kentucky as well. If that Kansas visit coincides with Late Night at the Phog, that can leave a strong impression on a kid. I wouldn’t rule out Bob Huggins in this recruitment either. Huggins got the best of the best from Ohio when he was at Cincinnati, and he’s gotten off to a strong recruiting start at WVU as well.

DORON LAMB

Lamb’s decision might hinge on what Stacey Poole does. Kentucky has offered him, but so have Arizona, Kansas and Oklahoma. Lamb is a shooting guard, but he’s a lot lighter than Poole. His stroke is probably better, but I’m not sure about his pure scoring ability compared to that of Poole. One of the perks of getting a commitment from Lamb would be the reopening of the coveted Oak Hill pipeline that we enjoyed under Rick Pitino and the first few years of Tubby Smith. My gut feeling is that if Poole commits to UK, Lamb goes to Kansas or Oklahoma. If Poole commits to South Carolina, Lamb commits to UK.

JOSH SELBY

The former Tennessee commitment is my #2 point guard wish and what he does might depend on what Brandon Knight does or vice versa. But I’ll talk about Knight later. Selby is a point guard by classification, but the recruiting experts say he has a scorer’s mentality. I have no doubt he can go on the court because he’s from Baltimore, and if you’re a 5-star player from the DC/Baltimore area, you’ve earned it. Besides Kentucky, Selby has offers from Baylor, UConn, Florida State, Indiana, Kansas (They offer EVERYBODY), Miami, Oregon and Syracuse. All those schools are strong recruiting schools, so I really don’t know what will happen with Selby, and I’d venture to guess that we won’t find out until next Spring. More than anything, I’m surprised Tennessee has completely dropped off the list. How does that happen?

BRANDON KNIGHT

Knight is the #1 overall player in the 2010 class, and his list is short, but narrowed down to powerhouses: Connecticut, Kentucky and Kansas. Knight is the real deal and a worthy #1 overall player to be sure. Aside from his tremendous basketball skills, he’s also a 4.0 student and appears to have a really good head on his shoulders and a wonderful family. I know this because he visited UK this past weekend and had a great time. He has a visit set up with UConn this weekend, and I’m sure he’ll reschedule the visit with Kansas that he had to cancel because it was the night of his homecoming dance. Point guard is not a position that we should worry about as much as in past years because of Eric Bledsoe, but it’s always nice to be stocked at that position.

In the end, I think Kentucky ends up with four players: Poole, Knight, Leslie and Payne. But never count out John Calipari if things don’t turn out like this.