Kentucky emerges for Dez Wells

Wells needs to pick a school soon. (Getty Images)

The recruitment of Dez Wells changed in a blip. When I spoke to him Tuesday night at around 9:30 p.m., he seemed fairly dead-set on the three schools in the equation for his services: Memphis, Maryland and Louisville.

"I'm going to try and visit all three in the next few days," he said.

Louisville was bounced out after Rick Pitino and the Cards couldn't make the scholarship numbers work. Then Kentucky got involved -- and things were modified in a hurry. Wells wound up quickly packing his bags and arriving in Lexington Wednesday afternoon. With the grand jury electing not to pursue the sexual assault allegations, Wells went from someone that was virtually untouchable to a kid that nearly everyone wanted -- including the defending national champs.

The tough, physical wing has gone into shut-down mode since he got to Kentucky and the other schools -- according to sources -- have no idea if he'll still wind up checking out their spot. There was thought he'd be at Memphis today, but now that's become uncertain. One sources close to Wells told CBSSports.com that he has not committed to Kentucky, as of Thursday morning, but it certainly could happen. The tentative plan is for him to go to Memphis on Friday and visit Maryland over the weekend, but this recruitment could change -- and end -- any moment.

It's difficult to imagine Wells landing anywhere but UK, though. He's a North Carolina kid who is close with former 'Cats star John Wall.

Wells would be a quality piece for John Calipari -- or anyone, for that matter -- to add to his program, but the question would then become whether he could get a waiver to play this season. It's certainly not out of the realm, but it appears to be a long-shot because he was still kicked out of another university.

"That's not the type of precedent that the NCAA wants to set," one source said. "It's one thing if someone is sick or you get your degree on time. It's another to be expelled and then rewarded."