Kentucky survives latest cut for one of its top basketball recruiting priorities
One of Kentucky’s top basketball recruiting priorities has cut his list to five schools, and the Wildcats are still firmly in the mix.
Daimion Collins — a highly athletic, 6-foot-10 power forward from Atlanta, Texas — announced Tuesday that he has narrowed his college possibilities to UK, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech.
Collins emerged over the summer as a major Kentucky recruiting target, and he’s enjoyed a continued rise in the national recruiting rankings, jumping 10 spots to No. 10 overall in the latest update from Rivals.com. He’s No. 19 overall in the most recent rankings from 247Sports.
As a junior this past season, Collins averaged 24.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 7.7 blocks per game. Atlanta High head coach Jarrod Boston told the Herald-Leader recently that the first thing college recruiters talk about related to Collins’ game is his ability on defense and his potential to guard the “1” through “5” spots at the college level.
“He is off the charts, defensively,” Boston said. “He’s every bit of 6-9, 6-10 and he’s got the longest arms that you’ve ever seen in your life. And he is just superb at blocking shots. He has unreal timing, and he gets to some shots that sometimes I just shake my head and look at the assistant and say, ‘How did he get that one?’”
Though there are still five schools on his list, Collins’ recruitment is expected to come down to Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas.
His hometown of Atlanta — a few miles from the Texas-Arkansas-Louisiana state lines — is actually closer to Norman, Okla., than Austin, and he has friends within the Sooners’ program. Collins also played travel ball with a team affiliated with former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin and spent some time working out with that squad near the Sooners’ campus this summer.
Oklahoma is the current leader on his 247Sports Crystal Ball page, but Collins still appears to be genuinely torn on a college decision and any public predictions at this stage are rooted in guesswork.
Texas was seen as the possible favorite before his lead recruiter there — former Longhorns assistant coach Jai Lucas — left that program for an off-the-court role at Kentucky, where he’s still allowed to recruit Collins and has been in regular contact with the star prospect and his family since taking the UK job several weeks ago.
With a 2021 recruiting board relatively light on impact big men, Kentucky has zeroed in on Collins as a priority. John Calipari has been in touch with the player and his family, and Joel Justus has been the program’s lead recruiter.
“You go to Kentucky — and you’re going to get a chance to play in the NBA,” Collins’ coach told the Herald-Leader. “You have to seriously think about it.”
There is no exact timetable for a college decision. Boston said a couple of weeks ago that Collins had planned to wait until the spring to make a commitment, but he acknowledged it wouldn’t be a surprise if he ultimately decides to pick a school before his senior season begins.
The early signing period is still set for Nov. 11-18.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 1:01 PM.
