The early signing period is over. So what’s next for Kentucky basketball recruiting?
College basketball’s early signing period is finished. All six of Kentucky’s summer and fall commitments have officially signed with the program. And UK has the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.
There’s still work to be done for the Wildcats in this recruiting cycle, however, and there are still prospects from the class of 2020 to follow over the next few months. There are also plenty of intriguing national recruiting storylines — that could directly or indirectly affect UK — to keep an eye on.
With the six early commitments now signed, there are only two players from the 2020 class with UK scholarship offers — Greg Brown and Cliff Omoruyi — and the Herald-Leader was told this week that the Wildcats are, as of now, not targeting anyone else from that group.
The possibilities of high-level reclassifications from the 2021 class and/or a graduate transfer addition still remain. The regular signing period begins April 15, though players can verbally commit to the school of their choice anytime between now and then.
Here are five big storylines to follow over the next few months:
Greg Brown
The No. 8 overall player in the 2020 class — according to the 247Sports composite rankings — Brown is a 6-foot-9 forward from Texas with NBA lottery pick upside. (ESPN is already projecting him as the No. 9 pick in the 2021 draft).
The Austin native has narrowed his list of schools to five: Auburn, Kentucky, Memphis, North Carolina and Texas, his hometown program and the school where his father was a football star. The Longhorns are seen by most recruiting analysts as the team to beat, though that frontrunner status could depend, in part, on how Texas performs this season and Coach Shaka Smart’s future outlook with the program. The Longhorns have yet to win an NCAA Tournament game in four previous seasons under Smart.
If Texas isn’t the choice, Kentucky should be in the next tier. The Wildcats are expected to host Brown for an official visit in January, though no college decision is expected until the spring. Brown’s father has told the Herald-Leader that they will look at the situation from all angles — including incoming and returning players on each roster — before making a college choice.
Kentucky will likely still have a need in the frontcourt by the time Brown’s decision comes.
Cliff Omoruyi
A native of Nigeria — and now a standout player at Roselle Catholic in New Jersey — Omoruyi is the No. 48 overall player in the 2020 composite rankings, and he should be an instant-impact college player as a rebounder and rim-protector. The 6-11 center earned a UK scholarship offer this year when John Calipari spoke at a basketball camp at his high school, the alma mater of Isaiah Briscoe and Kahlil Whitney.
Omoruyi’s recruitment might be the toughest to figure among the nation’s top uncommitted players. There have been Crystal Ball and other public predictions in favor of Arizona State, while the Herald-Leader has been told by others that the Sun Devils should not be considered favorites and Kentucky will go into the season as one of the top schools in his recruitment.
Officially, he still has 13 teams on his list: UK, Arizona State, Auburn, Louisville, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, St. John’s, Temple and UConn.
There’s no timetable for his decision, and he’s expected to take several more official visits.
Jonathan Kuminga
Technically, Kuminga is in the 2021 recruiting class — he’s the No. 1 overall player in that group, in fact — but recruiting insiders are skeptical that he will stay in that class beyond this season. If the Congo native does indeed jump to 2020 and gain eligibility to play college basketball next season, he’ll become the hottest recruiting target in the country.
Playing this season for The Patrick School (N.J.) — the alma mater of Nick Richards — Kuminga is already attracting major interest from top college coaches. Calipari has been to New Jersey to see him multiple times this fall.
The versatile 6-8 forward’s recruitment remains a guessing game. Louisiana State was seen as a possible favorite, but the Tigers didn’t make his public list of 10 schools this month. (Though the Herald-Leader has been told that LSU remains an option).
Kuminga’s next moves will be watched closely by college coaches across the country.
Memphis basketball
The most interesting team in college basketball coming into this season grew even more intriguing in its opening days. The questions of what Coach Penny Hardaway could do with all that talent — he had five top-60 signees and the No. 1 recruiting class for 2019 — quickly turned to whether the team’s best player would even be eligible to play.
The NCAA ruled Wednesday that James Wiseman — at one time UK’s biggest recruiting target — would be suspended a total of 12 games but eligible to return to the court in January after an investigation that revealed his mother received $11,500 from Hardaway while he was Wiseman’s coach in high school.
Even before the Wiseman eligibility saga, recruits in the 2020 class and beyond were obviously already in wait-and-see mode with Memphis, which seriously targets several five-star players for next season, and — to this point — has zero 2020 commitments.
The Tigers could ultimately land top-five recruit Jalen Green, but he could also opt to skip college altogether and jump straight to a pro career. Memphis is also on the lists of Greg Brown and Cliff Omoruyi, though the Tigers aren’t considered favorites for either of them or any of the other uncommitted Top 100 recruits in the 2020 class, outside of perhaps Green.
Will Penny’s program be a flash in the pan or a serious recruiting threat to blue bloods like Kentucky? How will his team filled with star prospects actually play once Wiseman returns? The next few months of Memphis basketball — on and off the court — should be an interesting follow.
An eye on the pros
Kentucky basketball fans have grown accustomed to keeping up on speculation of who will go pro and who won’t after each college basketball season. Those decisions obviously have a major impact on recruiting and the following season’s roster.
Now, the “pro-or-no?” watch has extended to high school, where more top recruits are thinking seriously about skipping college altogether. Former UK target RJ Hampton and five-star recruit LaMelo Ball are playing professionally in Australia this season — and getting paid — in preparation for next year’s draft. More will likely follow that route from the 2020 class.
The trend is expected to become so prevalent that 247Sports has added a “Pro” option to its popular Crystal Ball prediction system. National analysts immediately put in “Pro” picks for top-10 recruit Makur Maker — once a possible UK target — when that option was installed. In an interview with the Herald-Leader last week, recruiting expert Evan Daniels identified two other top-10 prospects — Jalen Green and Jalen Suggs — as possibilities to go the pro route instead of college.
Another former UK target, Isaiah Todd, elected not to sign with Michigan in the early period amid speculation that he, too, might explore a pro career next season. And yet another top-30 recruit (MarJon Beauchamp) has announced that he will skip organized basketball altogether next season and privately train up to the 2021 NBA Draft.
None of UK’s six early signees have been seriously mentioned as straight-to-pro possibilities, nor have Brown or Omoruyi. But it’ll be a trend for Kentucky and other blue bloods to keep an eye on in future cycles as more and more lucrative options emerge for five-star recruits.
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 7:30 AM.
