PREVIEW SERIES: Jarred Vanderbilt

Cats Illustrated is previewing every scholarship player on Kentucky's 2017-2018 basketball roster.

Part eight of the series is on forward Jarred Vanderbilt. The 6-foot-9, 214-pound Houston native hasn't been discussed much since committing to Kentucky. Is Vanderbilt being overlooked by Kentucky fans and national experts?

PREVIEW SERIES WEEK ONE: (Baker, Diallo, Killeya-Jones, Gabriel, Wynyard)

PREVIEW SERIES WEEK TWO: (Washington, Green)

High School: Vanderbilt's high school experience was different than other UK incoming freshmen. He wasn't the only player to play for a prep school, but Vanderbilt's Victory Prep led to him playing several games in Kentucky and some UK fans were able to catch Vanderbilt's games long before he was a Wildcat. He may be one of the most well-scouted incoming player by UK fans.

He averaged 28.5 points, 13.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game during his senior season. He was selected as McDonald's All-American but also to the Nike Hoop Summit Game, featuring some of the best players from America and the World. He had a game-high 19 points to go with 10 rebounds. The Americans defeated the World Team 98-87.

Vanderbilt's recruitment was strange in the sense many analyst had no idea where he was going to end up and nearly everyone was surprised when Vanderbilt randomly announced his decision two days before Christmas. He had just narrowed his list to four a few days before announcing.

He picked UK over UNC, TCU and Oregon.

Summer Rumblings: The biggest news to come out from the summer with Vanderbilt was that he looks to be 100 percent healthy and we do have confirmation that he competed in summer pickup games. That shouldn't come as a surprise knowing he went through workouts, but it's a positive sign regardless.

Vanderbilt suffered a foot injury at the Jordan Brand Classic all-star game that required X-rays and a boot. The extent of the injury was never fully detailed but many speculated a potential break and Vanderbilt was held out of basketball-related activities for a couple months.

But regardless of the injury Vanderbilt will be ready to rock-and-roll come November when the season starts. He's been working out with him former AAU teammate De'Aaron Fox and you better believe Fox has been giving him advice on what it takes to thrive at UK.

Many have seemingly overlooked Vanderbilt's impact on the team but Cats Illustrated has been hearing he may be the Cats second best defender.

2017-2018 Prediction: This may be a blanketed statement but things will go one of two ways for Vanderbilt.

The freshman forward may get lost in the shuffle. UK is deep at the wing position with Hamidou Diallo, Kevin Knox, P.J. Washington and Wenyen Gabriel. If Vanderbilt's defense isn't as good as advertised then offensively those four players are better and Vanderbilt may not get as much playing time as you'd expect from the No. 13 player in the class of 2017.

Or Vanderbilt will showcase quickly that the majority of the country was sleeping on him as an impact player for the Cats and his defense will help solidify Kentucky as one of the best defensive teams in the country. A versatile three that can play some four, and maybe stretches of two, Vanderbilt's ever-improving jump shot will allow to him to lure out bigger defenders and his versatility with the ball in his hands will make him a nightmare off the dribble.

The second scenario seems more likely, but someone is going to get buried on the wing. Expect Vanderbilt to average around nine points and four rebounds per game.