Early UK basketball recruiting target Scottie Barnes commits to Florida State
Five-star basketball recruit Scottie Barnes announced his commitment to Florida State on Monday.
Barnes — a 6-foot-9 forward from Wellington, Fla. — was the first player in the 2020 class to earn a scholarship offer from Kentucky, and he told the Herald-Leader this past weekend at USA Basketball minicamp that he was planning to take an official visit to UK this coming weekend.
Instead, he’ll play for Florida State, which has also made him a major priority since the early stages of his recruitment. Oregon also hosted him for an official visit earlier this year.
“Florida State was special, because I took my mom with me, and my dad was there. So that was a special trip for my mom — seeing how the recruiting process goes,” Barnes told the Herald-Leader on Friday. “And I really like the way Coach Leonard (Hamilton) and his staff talk to me.”
UK Coach John Calipari met with Barnes last week, and the star recruit said he liked Kentucky’s pitch and history of getting players to the NBA. He also said this past weekend that he was looking forward to a resolution with his recruitment and planned to decide soon.
“So I can just get it over with,” he replied when asked why he was nearing a college decision.
Barnes is ranked No. 9 overall in the class of 2020 by 247Sports, and he’s also high school teammates at Montverde Academy (Fla.) with Cade Cunningham, who is ranked No. 2 overall in the 2020 class and is Kentucky’s top remaining target in that group.
This story was originally published October 14, 2019 at 11:11 AM.
