Resetting Kentucky’s basketball recruiting board for 2021. Who’s next for the Cats?
It was a busy weekend for Kentucky basketball recruiting.
The Wildcats not only landed their first commitment for the class of 2021 — four-star point guard Nolan Hickman — but UK Coach John Calipari extended new scholarship offers to a couple of promising players from that group. More commitments could be coming soon, and other names are emerging for Kentucky’s 2021 recruiting board.
The frenetic weekend followed several months of relative quiet on the UK basketball recruiting front. After top target Paolo Banchero announced his commitment to Duke on Thursday, only two players from the 2021 class held scholarship offers from Calipari, who had clearly been hesitant to go all-in on new targets amid the NCAA’s nationwide recruiting travel ban due to COVID-19 concerns. Since those restrictions went into effect in March, the Cats had extended just one scholarship offer — to class of 2022 guard Skyy Clark, a player UK’s coaching staff was already well familiar with before the recruiting shutdown.
With that travel ban expected to last at least through the end of 2020 — and longtime UK targets such as Banchero and Kennedy Chandler picking other schools — Calipari is clearly making an effort to expand his target base for the 2021 class.
Hickman was step one in UK’s roster-building efforts for next season. At least one more commitment could be imminent. And the Cats might not need as many high school additions as usual in this 2021 cycle.
Projections have UK returning point guard Devin Askew, wings Dontaie Allen and Cam’Ron Fletcher, transfer forward Jacob Toppin, and post players Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware for next season. (A third year of Keion Brooks, who is not currently pegged as a 2021 draft pick, is also a possibility).
Obviously, projections at this stage in the recruiting calendar mean very little. Kentucky’s coaches must plan on some unexpected departures, and other new recruiting names will almost certainly pop up on the Cats’ 2021 radar in the coming weeks.
Here’s an updated look at the current possibilities.
The Kentucky offers
Patrick Baldwin Jr.: The No. 1 player in the Rivals.com rankings has long been considered a Duke lean, and the Herald-Leader was told over the weekend that the Blue Devils should still be seen as the favorites in his recruitment. It would be quite a coup for Duke to land Baldwin, Banchero (No. 2 in the Rivals rankings) and early commitment A.J. Griffin (No. 6 on that list), but that might be the way things are headed.
Baldwin — a smooth-shooting, 6-foot-9 small forward — has already taken a recruiting visit to Duke and has not yet been to UK’s campus. Banchero’s commitment to the Blue Devils did little to change the perception of Baldwin’s recruitment: Duke is still the favorite; hometown Milwaukee, where his father is the team’s head coach, still has a legitimate chance; and Kentucky should be seen as nothing more than a long shot at this stage.
Jaden Hardy: Banchero and Hardy have been viewed as targets 1 and 1A on UK’s wish list for months now, and Hardy’s dynamic scoring ability from the perimeter would no doubt make him an instant favorite with Kentucky fans. The Wildcats have been seen as a leader in his recruitment for a while, though there is no longer a high level of confidence in that designation among most in recruiting circles. UK might be in front, but Hardy’s recruitment is a difficult one to read. UCLA has been generating more buzz for the Las Vegas-based shooting guard in recent weeks. Other Pac-12 schools — namely Oregon, where Hardy’s brother will play this season — are also seen as legitimate options. And the possibility of a jump to the G League out of high school will continue to be mentioned whenever Hardy’s recruitment comes up.
Another possible hurdle for UK: Hardy, like Baldwin, has never taken a recruiting visit to Lexington, despite landing a scholarship offer from the Cats last summer. Banchero and longtime UK point guard target Kennedy Chandler, who committed to Tennessee this month, had both been to UK’s campus — as well as the other finalists on their lists — before the NCAA banned recruiting travel back in March.
Hardy’s recruitment appears likely to drag on, and the G League option will hover over the process for the foreseeable future. Rivals.com ranks him No. 5 overall in the class.
Bryce Hopkins: A longtime Louisville commitment, Hopkins backed out of that pledge this month, and Kentucky is among the many schools that immediately reached out to the No. 34 overall player in the Rivals.com rankings. Hopkins — a 6-6ish small forward with a 7-foot wingspan — is a gritty competitor who can play multiple roles. His NBA upside is still in question — making him a likely multi-year college player — but he’s expected to be an instant-impact contributor at whichever college he ultimately chooses. And that college is now widely expected to be Kentucky, which extended a scholarship offer during a call Friday night.
The Herald-Leader was told last week that Hopkins would ultimately end up in the Wildcats’ 2021 class. Indiana, Michigan, Providence and Oregon are among the other major programs that have prioritized the Chicago-area standout over the past couple of weeks, but things seem to be progressing nicely — and quickly — between Hopkins and UK. A commitment could come within the next couple of weeks.
Hunter Sallis: The writing had been on the wall for weeks that Kennedy Chandler was bound for home-state Tennessee, and UK had already started looking at other point guard options well before his commitment. Hickman — a 6-2 playmaker from Seattle — was obviously one of those new targets. Sallis — a versatile 6-5 playmaker, and more in the Calipari mold of point guards than the 6-foot Chandler — was also one of those players, and Kentucky’s coaches made their high level of interest official with a scholarship offer Friday night. There certainly appears to be mutual interest with the Nebraska native, who is ranked No. 11 overall by Rivals.com and could end up as the No. 1 point guard in the class.
Sallis’ recruitment still seems fairly open, with blue bloods North Carolina and Kansas projected to be out ahead of some of the other programs that have been recruiting him strongly. Oregon has also been mentioned behind the scenes as a legitimate contender.
Sallis is more than capable of playing multiple positions in the backcourt. The Cats already have Hickman aboard for next season and could very well return Devin Askew, another versatile playmaker who can play on or off the ball and would be an ideal fit in a multi-point guard backcourt. The Herald-Leader was told immediately after Hickman’s commitment Saturday that UK still very much wanted Sallis as part of its 2021 class, and Rivals.com national analyst Corey Evans told the Herald-Leader on Saturday night that he sees UK as one of the top three schools — perhaps even the No. 1 option — in Sallis’ recruitment, as of now. He cut his college list to 12 schools Sunday night.
A Kentucky possibility?
Daimion Collins: There has been no real sign of major Kentucky interest here … yet. That should change in the coming days. Collins — a 6-9 power forward from Texas and the No. 20 overall player in the Rivals rankings — is a major Longhorns target. His primary recruiter there has been assistant coach Jai Lucas, and Lucas is expected to take a position at Kentucky sometime in the near future. UK assistant coach Tony Barbee — the primary recruiter for Hickman — also has extensive ties with Texas recruiting. Add it all up — and factor in UK’s possible need for another big man in this recruiting cycle — and Collins could be a great fit for the Wildcats. He’s arguably the most athletic frontcourt prospect in the 2021 class.
The 2022 offers
Skyy Clark: Until Friday night, Clark was the only player in any class to land a UK scholarship offer during the COVID-19 travel shutdown. The 6-3 point guard can also play off the ball and projects as a terrific combo of playmaking and scoring ability at the next level. Kentucky is still seen as a favorite in his recruitment. Now living in Nashville after spending the past few years in the Los Angeles area, Clark is planning to stay put in the 2022 class, but he’s taking the necessary coursework to reclassify to 2021 and could still decide to make that move later in the process.
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield: The only other class of 2022 prospect with a confirmed UK scholarship offer, Huntley-Hatfield — a 6-9 forward from Clarksville, Tenn. — is widely expected to reclassify to 2021, though that decision has not yet been finalized. Rivals.com currently ranks him as the No. 6 overall prospect in the 2022 class, and he has a college-ready frame to go along with the ability to step away from the basket and make plays. Kentucky is seen as a favorite of sorts in Huntley-Hatfield’s recruitment, but several other schools are in the mix. Former UK player Alex Poythress is a family friend and is putting in a good word for the Cats, while former Tennessee player Bobby Maze is Huntley-Hatfield’s AAU coach/mentor and will also play an integral role in the recruitment.
The wild cards
Jaden Bradley: The No. 7 overall recruit in the Rivals.com rankings for 2022, possibly the best point guard in the class, and a major UK target dating back to last year, Bradley is also taking the necessary courses to be able to reclassify to 2021, if he so chooses. No decision on that is expected anytime soon, and Bradley doesn’t seem close to a college commitment. He moved from Rochester, N.Y., to the Charlotte area a few years ago, and North Carolina is also making him a priority recruit. Bradley — a 6-3 prospect — will play this season at IMG Academy (Fla.).
Others to watch: These surely won’t be the only names to show up on UK’s 2021 recruiting radar. Other reclassification possibilities from 2022 will undoubtedly emerge in the coming months. Kentucky is also expected to look closely at both graduate transfers and traditional transfers, especially if the NCAA allows players to switch schools without sitting out for a season, a tweak to current eligibility rules that is expected to pass early next year.
The Cats never seriously pursued possible No. 1 recruit Chet Holmgren, and the Herald-Leader was told over the weekend that No. 4-ranked recruit Jabari Smith — a versatile power forward — would be an unlikely fit for the Wildcats. There are several highly touted big men in the high four-star range of the 2021 rankings, though if Jackson and Ware both return for their sophomore seasons, the Cats might be more likely to look at transfers to fill frontcourt gaps, like they have in recent years with the acquisitions of Reid Travis, Nate Sestina and Olivier Sarr.
