What’s the latest on the next wave of star basketball recruits? An update on the top 10.
If the spring recruiting calendar had gone as planned, high school basketball prospects would have already had two major evaluation periods behind them, and the rising seniors from the class of 2021 would be getting new offers and interest from college coaches.
Instead, the coronavirus pandemic has effectively shut down grassroots competition. It appears the ban on recruiting will continue through at least July 31, and the nation’s top young prospects — as well as the coaches who would be pursuing them — are left in limbo.
But just because they haven’t been playing games doesn’t mean recruits haven’t been active in their college searches. Lists of finalists are still being narrowed. Coaches and players are still communicating through phone calls and video meetings. And sometime in the future — hopefully this fall — recruits will be back in the gym, and the coaches will be watching.
Until then, here’s a rundown of the latest on the top 10 players in the 2021 class — according to the 247Sports composite rankings — a list that includes several major Kentucky targets.
1. Jonathan Kuminga
The versatile 6-foot-8 forward from the Congo — now attending high school in New Jersey — was the first player from the 2021 class to receive a UK scholarship offer and is the unanimous choice among national recruiting services as the No. 1 overall prospect in the group. Kuminga released a top-10 list of schools last fall — Auburn, Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Texas Tech and Washington — and said last month that a top five would be “coming soon,” but that list has yet to materialize.
Much of the focus on Kuminga right now centers on whether or not he will decide to reclassify to 2020 and move on from high school basketball. He said on an ESPN podcast this month that he was “50/50” on the subject. Many in recruiting circles have assumed for months that he would ultimately make the 2020 move, though the Herald-Leader was told Monday that there’s still a small possibility he remains in 2021. If he does make the 2020 move, he’d probably be in the discussion for No. 1 overall player. A master list of the top 100 recruits in the country — regardless of class — posted by Rivals.com in February ranked only one 2020 prospect, Oklahoma State signee Cade Cunningham, ahead of Kuminga.
Kentucky is not currently seen as a favorite in Kuminga’s recruitment. Auburn has been getting a lot of buzz in recent weeks, and it’s worth noting that his brother, Joel Ntambwe, transferred to Texas Tech last year. He also visited Miami recently. And Kuminga would be an attractive target for the G League’s revamped preps-to-pros program. If he moves to 2020, he’ll be projected as a top-five pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, and speculation that he could go the G League route has picked up recently.
2. Chet Holmgren
The word “unique” gets thrown around far too often in the basketball recruiting world, but Holmgren — a 7-footer from Minnesota — is truly that. He’s a tremendous rim-protector defensively but can also handle the ball with ease, run the court, and make three-pointers. He’s expected to play a perimeter role in college, and his style on offense is one that doesn’t quite fit John Calipari’s approach. So it’s no surprise that there’s been zero buzz surrounding Kentucky and Holmgren’s recruitment. He’s done extensive Q&As with Rivals.com and 247Sports in recent weeks, and there was no mention of UK in either. At last check, there had been no contact between the two sides. Holmgren hasn’t released a list of top schools, but home-state Minnesota, Gonzaga, Memphis, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio State are among the many vying for his commitment.
3. Patrick Baldwin Jr.
Baldwin — a 6-9 standout from Milwaukee — is a smooth-shooting prospect who also projects as a perimeter-oriented player at the college level. He’s the son of University of Milwaukee head coach Pat Baldwin, and he was among the first players in the ’21 class to land a UK scholarship offer. This month, he narrowed his recruitment to 10 schools: Duke, Georgetown, Kentucky, Michigan, Milwaukee, North Carolina, Northwestern, UCLA, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Baldwin has had nothing but great things to say about UK and Calipari, but — same as Kuminga and Holmgren — Kentucky fans probably shouldn’t get their hopes up. He told 247Sports this week that, in addition to Milwaukee, the schools recruiting him the hardest have been Duke, Georgetown, UNC and Northwestern. Rivals.com national analyst Corey Evans told the Herald-Leader recently that he sees Duke and Milwaukee alone in the top tier of Baldwin’s recruitment. And, while Evans gives Baldwin’s father a real shot to keep his son home for college, the near-universal feeling in recruiting circles is that Baldwin will ultimately end up at Duke.
4. Paolo Banchero
Some better news for the Wildcats is that they are still seemingly in a great spot with Banchero, a highly versatile 6-10 forward from Seattle who has no problem doing some dirty work in the post but also possesses great skill that allows him to step away from the basket and impact the game in a variety of ways. Banchero recently narrowed his list to Arizona, Duke, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Tennessee and Washington (the hometown school and alma mater of both parents).
Washington will make the case to keep him home, Duke is always a tough recruiting opponent, and Tennessee is a relevant darkhorse for his commitment, but it doesn’t appear that any program is in a better spot right now than Kentucky, which hosted Banchero for Big Blue Madness last fall and has made him arguably its top recruiting target in the class of 2021. There have been rumblings that the uncertainty related to the coronavirus pandemic might lead to Banchero staying close to home for his (likely) one year of college — something that would obviously favor Washington — but it’s not expected to have any real impact on Banchero’s decision. MaxPreps.com named Banchero its national junior of the year following the 2019-20 season.
5. Jabari Smith
The son of former Louisiana State standout Jabari Smith Sr. is one of the most intriguing long-term prospects in the 2021 class and will be in the discussion for the No. 1 ranking moving forward. The 6-10 forward has an evolving game that stretches beyond the perimeter, and Smith is relatively young for his class — he just turned 17 years old last week — suggesting much more room for future growth. Smith has had some contact with Kentucky’s coaching staff, but there hasn’t been much UK talk surrounding his recruitment, and he doesn’t appear to be a major Wildcats priority — at least, as of now — among 2021 recruits. The Fayetteville, Ga., standout doesn’t have a set list of college favorites, but he does have a working group of schools that’s heavy on Southeastern Conference options. Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi and Tennessee are among those recruiting him hardest.
6. Jaden Hardy
Along with Banchero, the most likely Kentucky addition from the top of the 2021 rankings appears to be Hardy, a Michigan native who is now a standout player in the Las Vegas area. Hardy — a 6-4 shooting guard — is one of the best scorers in the country with good athleticism and shooting range that extends well beyond the three-point line. UK Coach John Calipari has made him a major priority in the 2021 class, and there’s a consensus in recruiting circles that the Wildcats are as well-positioned as any school pursuing him.
UK’s top competition for Hardy’s commitment is likely to come from Pac-12 country. Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA have all made him a major priority, as has Oregon, which landed his brother, Amauri Hardy, as a graduate transfer this spring. The elder Hardy has just one season of eligibility remaining — so he’s expected to have moved on by the time Jaden gets to college — but Amauri’s new affiliation with the Ducks could be a positive for them in Jaden’s recruitment. Hardy still has a lot of family back in Michigan, and the Wolverines could also be a major player in his recruitment. He’s still considering 12 schools as college options.
7. AJ Griffin
Griffin — a 6-7 small forward from New York — is the only top-25 player in the 2021 class to have already made a college decision. He committed to Duke in November, a couple of weeks after a recruiting visit to Durham and not long after Kentucky extended a scholarship offer. Griffin’s pledge got the Blue Devils off to a great start to the 2021 cycle.
8. Moussa Cisse
Originally from the West African nation of Guinea, Cisse — a 6-10 shot-blocker extraordinaire — moved to the New York area as a teenager and then moved to Memphis last summer. He averaged 23.2 points, 14.2 rebounds and 8.7 blocked shots per game to lead his team to a Tennessee state title, and he’s one of the top frontcourt prospects in the country. Cisse recently narrowed his list to six schools: Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Memphis, and he’s been repeatedly mentioned as a player who could reclassify to 2020 and play college basketball next season.
Calipari made multiple trips to see Cisse play this past season — and he’s one of the few recruits with a UK scholarship offer — but, if he does indeed move to the 2020 class, UK is not expected to be his destination. LSU is still seen as the most likely landing spot.
9. Michael Foster
A 6-9 forward from the Milwaukee area, Foster played this past season for Hillcrest Prep in Arizona — the same program that featured 2020 five-star Makur Maker — and possesses a versatile game that’s fun to watch and high on upside. He, too, is weighing the idea of reclassification to 2020, and there are several options on the table. If Foster goes the college route, Georgia has emerged in recent months as a legitimate landing spot. He’s also a candidate for the G League’s preps-to-pros program. Kentucky has not been involved.
10. Nathan Bittle
A 6-10 center from Oregon, Bittle has scholarship offers from all of the heaviest hitters out West, but the home-state Ducks appear to have the momentum at this stage in his recruitment. Kentucky has not been mentioned as a possibility.
