Every high school basketball player who picked G League had Kentucky recruiting ties
With a commitment from longtime No. 1-ranked recruit Jonathan Kuminga on Wednesday night, the G League’s new preps-to-pros program now has five high-profile players for the 2020-21 season.
The revamped program will allow star basketball prospects to get paid right out of high school while they stay in the United States to train up to the 2021 NBA Draft. All five players will be assigned to the new G League Select Team, which is expected to be coached by league veteran Brian Shaw and filled out with older players to help the new recruits develop their games and transition into professional basketball.
This is the first recruiting cycle in which the G League has offered this particular program — complete with six-figure salaries and a unique regimen for its young players — and it’s been an impressive haul for the NBA’s developmental league. Kuminga and Jalen Green are both top-five national prospects, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix were top-20 national recruits, and Philippines sensation Kai Sotto was ranked near the top 50 in the 2020 class.
All five players were also strongly linked to Kentucky at various stages in their recruitments.
Here’s a look at why things didn’t work out between these players and the Wildcats.
Jalen Green
Commitment date: April 16.
Kentucky’s interest: Going into last spring, Green was one of the Cats’ top targets in the 2020 class and one of the first players from that group to earn a UK scholarship offer. John Calipari made a point to see the five-star combo guard play plenty of times during the Nike league season, but Kentucky started to back off of Green’s recruitment as it became clear to the coaching staff that he might never play college basketball.
Why it didn’t work out: As the rumblings grew stronger that Green might bypass college altogether, UK had already worked itself into the leading position for star shooting guards Brandon Boston and Terrence Clarke. That made it much easier to part ways with Green and his uncertain recruitment. Boston and Clarke signed with UK in the fall, and both players are projected as NBA lottery picks in 2021.
Who got hurt? Memphis is where Green would’ve ended up had he gone the college route. As the No. 2 overall player in the 2020 class, he would have been a huge addition for Penny Hardaway, who hasn’t come close to matching the No. 1-ranked class he signed in the 2019 cycle.
Isaiah Todd
Commitment date: April 17.
Kentucky’s interest: Another one of Kentucky’s top priorities at the beginning of 2019 had already fallen off the Cats’ recruiting board by last fall. The versatile 6-10 forward played in front of UK’s coaches several times last year, and UK assistant coach Joel Justus paid him a visit on the first day of the fall recruiting period. That was basically the program’s final contact with Todd, who — like Green — was already rumored to be eyeing the professional route.
Why it didn’t work out: Todd said on social media last fall that Kentucky wouldn’t allow him to take an official visit to the school. By that point, UK’s coaches — under the impression that Todd might also skip college — had already started looking at other possibilities. On the same day that Justus was visiting with Todd, Calipari was visiting Lance Ware, another top forward in the 2020 class. The coaching staff had also started its late run at Isaiah Jackson, a high-upside power forward ranked just outside of the top 25. The Cats ultimately signed both Jackson and Ware for this coming season.
Who got hurt? Michigan actually landed a commitment from Todd last October, but even then it was clear the star recruit — ranked No. 19 in the 247Sports composite — was keeping his options open. In April, he backtracked on the Wolverines pledge and opted for the G League.
Daishen Nix
Commitment date: April 28.
Kentucky’s interest: UK never extended a scholarship offer to Nix — a 6-5 pass-first point guard from Alaska — but the Cats certainly took a close look. Amid Nix’s own lobbying for a Kentucky offer, Calipari and the coaching staff evaluated him at multiple events over the course of last summer. Ultimately, they decided to go in a different direction at the point guard spot.
Why it didn’t work out: Nix had a complicated recruitment that included playing for a Las Vegas-area prep school and non-shoe company affiliated travel team, both coached by his legal guardian. There were also major questions about his ability as an outside shooter, a trait that Calipari has been looking at more in his point guard recruits recently. UK passed on the opportunity to recruit Nix and instead concentrated on Devin Askew — a gritty competitor with a potent three-point shot — and No. 1 overall recruit Cade Cunningham. The Cats ultimately signed Askew and came close to landing Cunningham, who likely would have picked UK had Oklahoma State not hired his older brother as an assistant coach.
Who got hurt? UCLA signed Nix last fall, and that coaching staff was apparently caught off guard by his decision this past spring to bypass college for the G League’s professional program. “Mick Cronin had built his roster for next year based upon having Daishen Nix on his campus for at least a year,” Rivals.com’s Corey Evans told the Herald-Leader at the time. “Any program that didn’t get Daishen Nix should feel lucky right now that they didn’t waste their energy and time recruiting him.” Nix was the No. 16 player in the final 247Sports composite rankings.
Kai Sotto
Commitment date: May 13.
Kentucky’s interest: Sotto — a 7-2 center from the Philippines — wasn’t a prominent name in UK recruiting circles until he showed up for a recruiting visit to Lexington at the end of last year. Assistant coach Kenny Payne had taken the lead on Sotto’s recruitment, and the photos of UK’s resident post-player expert showing the prospect around campus sparked plenty of interest among those who follow UK recruiting.
Why it didn’t work out: Following that December trip to Lexington, there weren’t really any public developments between Kentucky and the young center. Sotto took a couple more recruiting visits but stayed largely silent on his future plans. It also started to become clear that Sotto, who had turned down some high-level professional offers to come to the United States and train toward the NBA Draft, was more likely to end up in a pro setting than college. Rumors abound on where he would go — Europe, Australia, back to the Philippines? — before he announced his commitment to the G League’s program in May.
Who got hurt? It’s difficult to say that any college came out of Sotto’s recruitment as a real loser. Auburn had some strong ties — and there was mutual interest — but Sotto seemed bound for a professional career before any true college front-runner emerged. It’s also uncertain how much Sotto — still a bit of a project post player — could have actually helped a top-flight program like Kentucky or Auburn this coming season, and his path so far could have raised eligibility questions if he had opted for college basketball.
Jonathan Kuminga
Commitment date: July 15.
Kentucky’s interest: Kuminga was the first player in the 2021 class to earn a scholarship offer from UK, picking up that honor while visiting Lexington for a game at the end of the 2018-19 season. Shortly after that, he emerged as the clear No. 1 player in the 2021 class, and Calipari and the UK coaching staff continued to watch him play — in both high school and Nike league settings — and build their recruiting relationship with the star player originally from Congo.
Why it didn’t work out: Kentucky never really “backed off” of Kuminga’s recruitment, but it was clear even last year that there might ultimately be eligibility hurdles to pass for any college that landed his commitment. The schools on his final list — Auburn, Duke, Kentucky and Texas Tech — were all aware of that, but Kuminga was just too good of a player to pass on. And though he certainly would have made UK (or any college team) better, his fit on this Wildcats’ squad was questioned by recruiting experts who already saw Boston and Clarke as playmakers who should dominate perimeter opportunities. Though he’s 6-8, Kuminga is a versatile player who has expressed a desire to play away from the basket.
Who got hurt? Texas Tech probably would have been the landing spot had Kuminga — now a 2020 reclassification — opted for college, but it’s difficult to see this as any kind of major loss for the Red Raiders since the vibe in recruiting circles over the past several months has been that Kuminga would never play college basketball.
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 7:52 AM.
