Basketball’s signing period starts this week. Very few top recruits are uncommitted.
The first signing period for college basketball recruits is almost here.
Starting Wednesday, high school seniors will have one week to sign early with the school of their choice and make their commitments official. By the end of next week, it doesn’t appear as if there will be many top-tier options for college coaches to choose from in the 2020 cycle.
Going into the signing period, fewer than 10 of the top 25 recruits in the class — according to the 247Sports composite rankings — will still be uncommitted. At least a couple from that group of undecided players are looking at skipping college and going straight to the pros, and at least a couple more are planning to make college decisions before the end of the signing period on Nov. 20.
That means, if a program doesn’t already have a stellar class in place, it’s going to be difficult to make up much ground as the 2020 cycle continues.
Kentucky, of course, already has four commitments for next season: five-star shooting guards Brandon “BJ” Boston and Terrence Clarke, as well as four-star recruits Cam’Ron Fletcher and Lance Ware. UK is also expected to add five-star point guard commitment Devin Askew — currently in the 2021 class — to next season’s roster. He won’t make a reclassification decision until the spring, but recruiting experts are expecting him to ultimately join the Cats’ 2020 class.
Here’s a look at the few top prospects still available for next season:
Five-star recruits
3. Jalen Green: At one point a major UK target, Green fell off the Wildcats’ radar after the commitment of fellow top-five prospect Terrence Clarke, but he’s still one of the most talented players in the country. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard from California is scheduled to announce his college commitment Dec. 25, and Memphis might be in the best spot. National recruiting expert Andrew Slater switched his prediction to the Tigers last week, and Rivals.com national analyst Corey Evans also has a pick in for Memphis, which might have overtaken Oregon in his recruitment.
5. Ziaire Williams: Williams is another star perimeter player from California, but there’s no timetable for his commitment and it seems unlikely that he will leave the West Coast for college. North Carolina, at one time, looked like a possible favorite, but his recruitment now appears to be a battle of Pac-12 programs. Rivals.com national analyst Corey Evans put in a prediction for Arizona last week.
7. Makur Maker: Kentucky was linked to Maker — the 7-foot younger cousin of NBA player Thon Maker — over the summer, but he’s been exploring the professional route, and that’s the path most recruiting analysts think he will take after this season. UK has not been involved with his recruitment lately.
8. Greg Brown: Currently the only remaining top-10 recruit on Kentucky’s list, Brown is a highly athletic, high-upside forward from Texas with a final five that features UK, Auburn, Memphis, North Carolina and the hometown Longhorns. The 6-9 prospect is planning to wait until the spring to make a college decision, so the Cats still have time to improve their standing in his recruitment. Texas — where his father was a football standout — is the consensus favorite, but that could change if the Longhorns have another subpar season under Shaka Smart. Rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi did note last week that Kentucky “appears to be surging” in Brown’s recruitment. Perhaps UK fans should root against Texas this season.
10. Jalen Suggs: It sounds like the standout guard from Minnesota will end up going the professional route next season or ultimately commit to Gonzaga, the only school that has hosted him for an official visit so far. UK has not been involved in his recruitment.
11. Josh Christopher: Like Green, he fell off of Kentucky’s recruiting radar after the Wildcats picked up a commitment from Terrence Clarke earlier this year. The other finalists on the California shooting guard’s list are Arizona State, Michigan, Missouri and UCLA, and it’s the Bruins that have emerged as the favorite in Christopher’s recruitment.
19. Bryce Thompson: A sharp-shooting Oklahoma guard, Thompson was briefly mentioned as a possible UK target over the summer, but that never got serious. His final four schools are Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Kansas is seen as the favorite, and he’ll announce a college decision Tuesday.
22. Nimari Burnett: Also announcing Tuesday will be Burnett, a combo guard from Chicago who is still looking at Alabama, Michigan, Oregon and Texas Tech. His recruitment is still a bit of a mystery. Alabama was seen as a real contender not too long ago, though Evans recently changed his pick to Texas Tech.
24. Cameron Thomas: Louisiana State is the clear favorite for Thomas, a standout shooting guard at Oak Hill Academy (Va.).
25. Isaiah Jackson: Kentucky, Alabama and Syracuse are the three finalists for Jackson, a high-upside forward from Detroit who is scheduled to announce his college decision Saturday. His recruitment is widely expected to come down to UK and Alabama, and the Crimson Tide go into the week as the favorite, though it’s difficult to find anyone who has a strong level of confidence in a prediction. Jackson is likely the only real possibility for another UK addition this fall.
Rest of the Top 50
There are just seven players ranked between No. 26 and No. 50 that have yet to make future commitments, and four-star center Cliff Omoruyi (No. 47 in the rankings) is the only one on the list that should be considered a Kentucky target. UK is one of more than a dozen schools still vying for Omoruyi, who is expected to make an official visit to Lexington sometime this season and probably won’t make a college commitment until the spring.
UK is technically still on the list for four-star forward JT Thor (ranked No. 49 overall), but the Wildcats have not shown much interest in his recruitment in recent weeks. Thor could end up joining the Cade Cunningham Show at Oklahoma State.
Kentucky either has no interest or is no longer involved with the other remaining players in that rankings range: Dawson Garcia (No. 30), Adam Miller (No. 31), Hunter Dickinson (No. 34), Kyree Walker (No. 35) and Josh Hall (No. 41).
Other options for UK?
Only seven uncommitted players are ranked between No. 51 and No. 100 nationally, and none of those players are on Kentucky’s radar.
Any other class of 2020 additions for the Cats would probably come through players reclassifying from 2021 or from graduate transfers. Devin Askew is likely to make that jump from 2021 to 2020 in the spring.
Jonathan Kuminga — currently ranked No. 1 in the 2021 class — is also expected to make that move, and John Calipari has made it clear that he is a major Kentucky recruiting target. Kuminga raised eyebrows recently by releasing a top-10 list that did not include perceived favorite LSU, but there’s still a ways to go in his recruitment and it’s too early to completely rule out the Tigers.
Top-five recruit Paolo Banchero — a power forward from Seattle — has often been mentioned as a reclassification candidate, but he’s expected to stay in the 2021 class. Don’t be surprised, however, if other talented players emerge as possible reclassifications over the next few months.
Conference breakdown
The Atlantic Coast Conference leads the way with commitments from 25 recruits ranked in the Top 100 (according to the 247Sports composite), led by Duke’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class, which features six prospects ranked in the top 40 nationally. North Carolina’s No. 2 class has three five-star commitments and a total of five players in the top 60 nationally.
Kentucky sits No. 3 in the 247Sports composite rankings, though the Cats still have a great shot at the No. 1 spot if Askew does indeed reclassify and they add one or two more stellar 2020 recruits, as expected. The Southeastern Conference is second to only the ACC with a total of 14 Top 100 commitments, and Tennessee, Auburn, Arkansas, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Florida all have at least one commitment from that group. The Volunteers have the nation’s No. 4 class going into the early signing period.
Other Top 100 commitments by conference: Big Ten (10), Pac-12 (eight), Big 12 (seven), Big East (six), West Coast (two), American (two), and Mountain West (one).
Top 25 commitments
- 1. Evan Mobley (Southern Cal)
- 2. Cade Cunningham (Oklahoma State)
- 4. Terrence Clarke (Kentucky)
- 6. Jalen Johnson (Duke)
- 9. Scottie Barnes (Florida State)
- 12. Isaiah Todd (Michigan)
- 13. Brandon Boston (Kentucky)
- 14. Daishen Nix (UCLA)
- 15. Walker Kessler (North Carolina)
- 16. Jaden Springer (Tennessee)
- 17. Day’Ron Sharpe (North Carolina)
- 18. Sharife Cooper (Auburn)
- 20. Jeremy Roach (Duke)
- 21. Caleb Love (North Carolina)
- 23. Keon Johnson (Tennessee)
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 7:40 AM.
