A ‘game-changer’ in the G League recruiting battle (and more Kentucky basketball notes)
Those in basketball recruiting circles weren’t exactly shocked when five-star recruits Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd announced their decisions to take the G League route and get paid to play next season while training up to the 2021 NBA Draft.
Green, the No. 2 recruit in the class of 2020 composite rankings, would have picked Memphis if he had decided to play college ball, but he had long been rumored to go pro out of high school. Todd, the nation’s No. 14 recruit, had committed to Michigan, but he publicly left open the option of a pro career.
Daishen Nix was a different case.
Nix — a five-star point guard, ranked No. 15 in the class — signed with UCLA in the fall but announced this week that he, too, would play in the G League instead next season.
“Nix is the game-changer,” Rivals.com national analyst Corey Evans told the Herald-Leader. “This was someone that was signed for a program. In the past, the G League’s spiel was, ‘We’re going to keep the best talent that would go overseas here in the United States.’ Well, Daishen Nix was going to college. So now you have some college programs a little squeamish, like, ‘Are those kids that we have signed definitely coming?’ They’re definitely doing some back-tracking and being proactive and doing their due diligence: ‘OK, just because you’re signed now does not mean you’re a definite.’”
One common theme running through the recruitments of Green, Nix and Todd: they were all pursued, to various degrees, by Kentucky, which ultimately backed off of all three players before those recruitments really heated up. Green and Todd both had UK scholarship offers before John Calipari decided to go in different directions (partly, because Kentucky’s coaching staff thought they might go pro instead). Nix and his camp were publicly lobbying for a UK offer. Calipari and the coaching staff looked into it, but the offer never came, and the Wildcats landed five-star point guard Devin Askew — and made a serious run at No. 1 recruit Cade Cunningham — instead.
In this cycle, the Cats’ due diligence early in the process worked to their benefit.
“Oh, most definitely,” Evans said, when asked if that should encourage UK fans moving forward. He offered a comparable scenario for Kentucky fans to ponder, outlining the position UCLA Coach Mick Cronin now finds himself in.
“What if you told Kentucky that Devin Askew wasn’t enrolling? You’re pretty livid, right? And Mick Cronin should be pretty mad,” Evans said. “Isaiah Todd is one thing, Jalen Green’s another thing, but this was a kid who was signed. He was committed. Mick Cronin had built his roster for next year based upon having Daishen Nix on his campus for at least a year. You take away that type of talent at that spot on the floor — yeah, any program that didn’t get Daishen Nix should feel lucky right now that they didn’t waste their energy and time recruiting him.”
The G League also pursued Terrence Clarke, the No. 4 recruit in the 2020 composite rankings, and a key member of Kentucky’s roster for next season. Clarke and Calipari both took to Twitter last month to shoot down any talk of Clarke taking that route, and the star recruit has been regularly posting pro-UK messages on social media ever since.
That should serve as further reassurance for UK fans, though this week’s confirmation that the G League is willing to go after players who have signed with colleges — and shown no public desire to go pro instead — should be cause for pause.
“I still expect him to be there,” Evans said of Clarke. “I think there’s still a slight chance (for the G League). There’s always a chance. But, as of now, I still think he’ll be a part of Kentucky’s basketball program in the fall.”
247Sports national analyst Evan Daniels fully expects Clarke to be at UK whenever students are permitted to return, amid the coronavirus pandemic that has shut down college campuses.
“The G League/Terrence stuff was old information put out at a bad time, in my opinion,” Daniels told the Herald-Leader. “Yeah, Terrence talked to the G League, but that was last summer. There has been some information floating around Twitter about it that was just inaccurate.”
Recruiting vs. the G League
Daniels couldn’t say for sure that the G League was finished with its recruiting efforts for next season, however. Could more top high school players follow Green, Nix and Todd to the league this year?
“I don’t know that I can answer that question now,” Daniels said. “I know they’re still talking to other guys, but — if they’re going to add anybody else — I don’t know.”
This recruiting cycle, as it stands now, should be seen as a win for Kentucky’s coaches, who have built the nation’s No. 1 class while recognizing red flags in some of its earliest targets and moving on as a result. That bodes well for an uncertain future in this new recruiting landscape. UK’s coaches have made it clear they’ll still be targeting the very best players in the 2021 class. The Cats have extended offers to only six players in that group, and they’re all ranked in the top 15 nationally. And the G League has also been in contact with many of them.
Can Kentucky continue to deftly dodge the recruiting bullets in the future?
“I don’t know that we know the full scope,” Daniels said. “And this year is a different situation because of the coronavirus. And there’s also a new factor with the name, image and likeness rules set to be adjusted, which I think is going to give kids an opportunity to make a lot of money in college and build their brand from a marketing standpoint.
“So I think there are a lot of unknowns with this system. This year, it’s obviously hurt schools like Memphis and UCLA and Michigan. But I think colleges are just going to have to approach the recruitments knowing that could be a possibility, and they’ll have to do a good job of evaluating guys and seeing who’s considering that type of option and who’s not. Obviously, Texas was able to win out with Greg Brown. The G League was certainly a strong option for him, too.”
Brown, a top-10 recruit and former UK target, committed to hometown Texas last week despite a lucrative offer from the G League.
The NCAA confirmed this week that changes are coming to the name, image and likeness rules that currently prohibit college athletes from making money off their sports fame while still in school. The exact details have not yet been established, but the changes are expected to go into effect for the 2021-22 season, meaning top recruits in the 2021 class can expect to get paid during their first year on campus.
Common sense says the programs with the biggest brands and most loyal followings will be the ones who can promise top players the most attractive opportunities to profit while still in school. Kentucky basketball players, for instance, already make good money — into the six figures, in many cases — on postseason autograph tours after they exhaust their college eligibility or declare for the NBA Draft. Such opportunities will now be available year round. That will surely be one more selling point in this new battle with the G League.
“The blue bloods are going to benefit from that,” Daniels said. “Whether that be Kentucky or North Carolina or Duke or Kansas — the schools with large fan bases, (supporters) that are willing to give beaucops of money — those are going to be the schools that will benefit off of this. There are going to be sponsorships given. The kids are going to be put in a position where they can make — in some cases, and depending on how good you are — quite a bit of money.”
Paolo Banchero and Kentucky
Paolo Banchero — a 6-foot-10 power forward from Seattle and arguably UK’s biggest target in the class of 2021 — narrowed his list to six schools this week: Kentucky, Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Tennessee and Washington.
Rivals.com ranks Banchero as the No. 2 overall player in the class, meaning he’ll probably move into the No. 1 spot if current top-ranked prospect Jonathan Kuminga makes the jump to 2020, which is expected to happen.
National analyst Corey Evans has said in the past that he likes UK’s chances to land Banchero, who had a lengthy talk with Rivals.com this week to go over his recruitment and new list of schools. Evans’ prediction in favor of UK did not change after that conversation.
“Yeah, I’m not budging from that,” he told the Herald-Leader. “I do think Tennessee is much more involved than people realize. And I think that deal with (top point guard) Kennedy Chandler is legitimate — that’s a real thing, going to college together. And I think, honestly, if that happens, it is for Tennessee.
“But I do feel pretty optimistic for Kentucky’s chances. Now, Paolo did say he’s at least six or seven months away from deciding, if not until (next spring).”
Evans also mentioned Washington as a formidable contender. That’s the hometown program, and both of Banchero’s parents were athletes at the school.
“But I think Kentucky is still the leader,” he said.
Banchero, who doesn’t turn 18 years old until November, has long been rumored as a reclassification candidate to 2020, but he has repeatedly denied that talk in recent months, and those in recruiting circles are convinced he’ll stick in 2021.
“I am 100 percent 2021. Everybody knows that, I know that,” Banchero told Pro Insight this week. “A lot of people think that I’m like lying, holding off, to make some announcement, but I’m not doing that. I get why they might be saying that since other people have done that, but I’m staying in 2021.”
Kennedy Chandler’s list
Rivals.com ranks Kennedy Chandler as the No. 1 point guard and No. 10 overall prospect in the class of 2021, and he, too, trimmed his list of schools this week.
Chandler — a 6-1 playmaker from Memphis — is considering Kentucky along with Duke, Memphis, North Carolina and Tennessee. He’s close friends with Paolo Banchero, and the two continue to talk about teaming up with each other in college.
The three common schools on their lists are Kentucky, Duke and Tennessee, and there’s a reason Evans believes the Vols have the best shot to land the duo, if they do attend the same college.
“I think Tennessee is the leader for Kennedy — that’s why I say that,” he told the Herald-Leader. “Personally, I think it’s Tennessee or Kentucky for Kennedy. And I was surprised Michigan didn’t make it. I think Tennessee and Kentucky are the two to beat, for now.”
Duke and Kentucky both have five-star point guards coming in this season, but neither player — Jeremy Roach and Devin Askew, respectively — is projected as a one-and-done pick, meaning they could both be around when it’s time for Chandler to go to college. Roach’s game is more similar to Chandler’s, while Askew is a bigger, more versatile player who has said he wouldn’t mind sharing the UK backcourt with another point guard.
“Devin is such a big guard, and he can make shots at a high rate. Where Jeremy and Kennedy are similar, in regard to their physical makeup and the way they play the game,” Evans said. “And Kennedy is cognizant of how compatible their skill sets are to each other.”
One plus for the five schools chasing Chandler: he has been contacted by the G League, but he’s already said he will play college basketball. “They have called my parents, but I want to go to college,” he told Rivals.com this week.
Recruiting Patrick Baldwin Jr.
Rivals.com also posted a lengthy and informative Q&A with Kentucky target Patrick Baldwin Jr. this week, and the smooth-shooting 6-9 perimeter forward from Milwaukee had positive things to say about Calipari and the Wildcats’ program.
Baldwin is the No. 3 player in the Rivals.com rankings and already has a UK scholarship offer. He’s also a priority recruit for Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, and Baldwin’s father is Pat Baldwin, the head coach at the University of Milwaukee.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he says he’s going to stay home and go to Milwaukee,” Evans told the Herald-Leader. “And as you get to kind of know the kid, you’re like, ‘That kind of makes sense.’ Look at how many times in the Q&A that he brings up family — that’s important to him. And you have his father, they kind of go everywhere together and they’re very, very close.
“And I think Pat Baldwin is so good and his game translates so well, I don’t think it really matters where he goes, honestly. You want to be challenged, and I do think Duke has a very good chance as well. He’s that Duke kind of kid, right?”
Evans noted that Baldwin’s father was previously an assistant at Northwestern under Coach Chris Collins — a former Duke player and longtime Coach K assistant — and Baldwin’s friend and travel league teammate, Jalen Johnson, is the top recruit in Duke’s 2020 class.
Calipari will still be recruiting Baldwin, however, and former UK player Tyler Herro, who’s also from Milwaukee, has ties to Baldwin’s travel league team.
“You can’t discount Kentucky, either, Evans said. “He saw a guy from his new hometown go there and succeed, and Cal recognizes the need for a guy that can make shots. And I think that’s why they’ve made him a priority.”
UK likely has some ground to make up, though.
“As of right now, I think it’s Duke and Milwaukee, honestly,” Evans said. “And then everyone else.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 7:37 AM.
