There are few players Kentucky has been recruiting longer in 2017 than Jarred Vanderbilt, but during the duration of such a long recruitment things can change.

Vanderbilt hasn't been a name mentioned as a top 2017 Kentucky target in quite sometime, but the Cats seem to be very interested in the 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward.

Interested enough to invite Vanderbilt back on campus for an official visitor. The Houston native came back to Lexington with his family to check out UK and the Blue vs. White scrimmage on Friday.

Vanderbilt' mom, Gwen Vanderbilt, spoke with Cats Illustrated about the trip.

“It went well,” Gwen Vanderbilt said. “I enjoyed it. It was very informative. We got the questions answered that we wanted answered. We saw what we wanted to see. I think it’s fit for my son but we have to check out the rest of the choices and come up as a family and see what we agree on. So far so good. I was really impressed.”

Vanderbilt has played several AAU and high school games all across Kentucky and visited for a game last season.

This time around he was able to fully check out UK's campus, meet with the coaches and watch practice and the scrimmage. Gwen Vanderbilt said everything on the visit stood out but she enjoyed hearing from John Calipari.

“He’s very interested in my son and would like to see him on board,” Gwen Vanderbilt said. “He said he had a bright future and said he needs to think about his choices. It’s a business and everyone wants him and Cal wants the best for my child and I appreciate that.”

One difficult part about any recruitment is finding out which coaches are being genuine and which coaches are just telling players what they want to hear.

Gwen Vanderbilt's advice for her son is to decide for himself while watching practices and games.

Calipari checked out.

“We’ll determine who’s being genuine by based on what we see,” Gwen Vanderbilt said. “Practice styles that they have that will fit my son’s style because I know what type of player he is. You can kinda see who’s honest and not. Just watching Cal coaching the guys in practice it’s clear he puts the guys first. He cares about his player’s future. It wasn’t about the coach it was about the players advancing. I really liked how interested he was in the players.”

Any talented player like Vanderbilt has dreams of getting to the next level and that's why Kentucky is standing out in his recruitment.

“He has to work towards it but that’s his goal,” Gwen Vanderbilt said. “He wants to work with the best to get to the level he wants to get to. I think going to Kentucky would help him to do that.”

Vanderbilt is also considering Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina, Oregon and TCU to go along with the Cats.

He's hoping to announce in January.

“He’s ready to make a decision in January,” Gwen Vanderbilt said. “We have a few more visits left on the schedule.”