The text message from UK assistant coach Kenny Payne came in shortly after one of Nike Team Florida’s games during the first league weekend of the spring a few days ago.
Payne was telling one of the team’s coaches that he and John Calipari had been watching five-star recruit Scottie Barnes, and they’d seen enough.
Barnes, still just 16 years old and a sophomore in high school, had earned a scholarship offer from the University of Kentucky.
At his team’s shootaround Friday afternoon before this weekend’s Nike league games here, Barnes smiled when he talked to the Herald-Leader about the new offer and his budding recruitment.