I don't see why everyone thinks KP will be an instant success on the recruiting trail. Kyle Tucker of The Athletic wrote a great piece on Payne’s departure at UK last year and what it meant for Kentucky basketball moving forward. Tucker also shared on social media that some of Kentucky’s most significant wins on the recruiting trail in recent years didn’t come from Payne...expressing confidence in assistants Tony Barbee and Joel Justus. Tucker noted in his story that Payne had taken a step back in recruiting in recent years, with Barbee and Justus having more activity on that front for Calipari. Barbee and Justus have been staples on the UK bench since the 2015-16 season, and both are responsible for big names playing at Kentucky.
Below is a list of players both assistant coaches were the lead recruiter for.
Justus: BJ Boston, Devin Askew, Immanuel Quickley, Keldon Johnson, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Bam Adebayo.
Barbee: Terrence Clarke, Tyrese Maxey, Keion Brooks, and Nick Richards.
Payne was one of the top assistants in college basketball and very important in developing Kentucky’s big men. However UK's recruiting has not taken a significant blow since he left as they where the #2 overall ranked team last year and have 2 burger boys already signed up for next season.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think KP would be terrible when it comes to recruiting. However I think it's fair to question how good he would be on his own.