As we detailed on Wednesday morning, Christian Collins picked up a Kentucky offer on Tuesday after a visit from Mark Pope.

The nation's seventh-ranked junior according to Rivals has had a big breakout over the past year that has led to offers from the likes of Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Cal, Duke, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Oregon, Pepperdine, SMU, TCU, Texas, UCLA, USC, Villanova to name a few, plus several more mid-majors.

The Kentucky offer came one day after another visit and subsequent offer from Duke. Arkansas and Texas also issued invites during the month of April.

Collins has been a major piece of a powerhouse at St. John Bosco High School. His Team Why Not squad is also one of the early favorites to take home an EYBL Peach Jam title in July.

They completed the first spring session this past weekend by going a perfect 3-0. Collins did his part by averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds.

But back to the offer. Cats Illustrated spoke with his mother, Angel, Wednesday night. We had a pleasant conversation about the occasion and the first impression of Mark Pope. There was also time to discuss how her son has come from off the radar to make the claim as one of the best handful of high school players in the country.

CI: Tell us about Christian away from basketball.

Angel: “I would say he is a high character kid. He has big dreams, big goals. I would say he has had this dream since he was maybe five or six years old. Off the court he is in church. He has been involved in a lot of things like plays and acting. He’s just an amazing kid. That’s all I can say.”

CI: If I follow your son correctly, he wasn’t really a prodigy at a young age. He has had to work hard for everything, and really just came on the national scene in the last couple of years.

Angel: “That is correct. Of course I saw his skills early, but as far as him getting notoriety and visibility, that really didn’t happen until tenth grade in high school. He played JV in the ninth grade. He really didn’t get much visibility until he hit a game winning shot against St. Bernard. That’s when it all started happening.”

CI: Now that he is getting the visibility what has it been like with people like me calling and coaches coming by?

Angel: “I would say it’s been keeping us really busy. We’re definitely surrounding him and supporting him as much as we can. It’s been a great journey. It’s been exciting. Watching him evolve has been just an amazing sight to see first hand. It’s been great.”

CI: Are there athletic genes in the family?

Angel: “My sister (Alexis Kendrick) was a McDonald’s All-American in 2002. She played point guard for UGA (Georgia). His dad (DeAngelo Collins) was also a McDonald’s All-American.”

CI: Tell us about the Kentucky coaches coming by. How have they been recruiting him, and what did they have to say?

Angel: “Jason Hart, who is the assistant there, has reached out. We know him from here in Los Angeles, and he’s been reaching out for the last six to eight months I would say. He’s just getting to know Christian’s routine. He’s been to a couple of his workouts, cultivating that relationship. He’s always alluded to that we would meet the head coach eventually, but it just occurred yesterday. It was an amazing experience. He’s a very down to earth person. I didn’t know he was that tall. He was really easy to talk to, and it was a very seamless dinner. It was very natural, just the conversation flow went very well.”

CI: What did he say he liked about Christian?

Angel: “He said he liked his game. He said that it takes a person who had to struggle and fight to get to where he is to appreciate this opportunity. He can tell he’s a humble person, and he likes to work with good people. He basically gave us more information about his program, and how he retains a lot of his players because they are such a family oriented program. He’s been monitoring him throughout the year. He just said he likes the way he has evolved basically.”

CI: Do you feel like you know more about the Kentucky program than you did when Coach Pope got out there?

Angel: “Absolutely. I wouldn’t say I know everything, but I know more than I knew before.”

CI: Christian has a lot of offers, and a bunch of big ones. Do you get used to it when he gets an offer, or is it brand new all over again?

Angel: “No, every offer is different, especially meeting a coach in person, and such a highly touted coach. He (Coach Pope) had people coming up to him shaking his hand, because he is such a big presence. I guess coming to the West Coast people don’t get to see him that often. So it was like we were sitting down with a celebrity.”

CI: I understand it’s still early in the recruiting process, but is his relationship with the programs still evolving, or has it moved past that?

Angel: “We’re still building a relationship. I mean this is all new to us. Yeah, we’re just getting to know everyone.”

CI: The family will be involved in this as well, so what are some of the big things that Christian will look for as he chooses a college?

Angel: “I would say like a brotherhood, family oriented, an environment where he can thrive and be himself. Of course Christian has his own list, but as far as I know just a situation where he can thrive academically as well. There is a strong plan for him where he can actually start when he gets there. The development is there. He has his own list though, but that’s what I see so far of what he wants.”

CI: Which schools have come by so far, and which others might come by that haven’t gotten there yet?

Angel: “At his practice yesterday (Tuesday) there was Arizona, Michigan, Louisville, and Cal. Of course Duke and Kentucky came by early and gave an offer. So there have been about seven in the last few days.

CI: He gets the Kentucky offer right after the Duke offer. All of them are big, but those two are huge. It doesn’t get much better than that to receive those offers on back to back days.

Angel: “Yeah, it’s phenomenal just to see where his hard work has taken him. We’re really appreciative of these opportunities. So whatever the best fit is for him that is the direction we will go.”