Brandin Podziemski has ‘tremendous opportunity’ to play at UK. What happens next?
About a month ago, Brandin Podziemski — a standout high school basketball player from Wisconsin — landed a scholarship offer to play for the University of Kentucky.
The news that night was met with a collective, “Who?” — even from those diehard UK basketball fans that follow the ins and outs of recruiting on an everyday basis. In the John Calipari era, the Wildcats are used to targeting and landing only the cream of the crop. Most of the players that receive Kentucky offers are ranked among the top 25 or so prospects in their respective class. Podziemski, as of now, is considered to be the No. 272 player nationally, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t belong at Kentucky.
“Brandin is the best pure shooter in America,” Antonio Curro, the team director of Nike-affiliated Phenom University, told the Herald-Leader this week. “And, if he’s not, he’s up there among the top three. With Patrick Baldwin being right there with him. Jaden Hardy is exceptional. There are a few other guys that can score the basketball. But in terms of what Brandin does, you’re not going to find three guys in the country that shoot the ball better than him.”
Baldwin, who also plays his travel ball for Phenom U, is the consensus No. 1 overall player in the class. Hardy was the first guard in 2021 to land a UK scholarship offer, and he, too, is a top five national prospect. Next to them, Podziemski is a virtual unknown.
If 2020 had been a regular year, that almost certainly wouldn’t be the case.
Instead of playing in front of college coaches from April through July, the top high school prospects in America were largely pushed to the sidelines after the COVID-19 pandemic effectively shut down all aspects of recruiting. Some on-court activities began late in the summer. Curro said Podziemski started to gain a little buzz in August, really hit his stride in September, and by October he was blowing up, with offers coming in from Kentucky and Kansas and regular mentions on the national recruiting websites.
In a normal year, that attention would have come sooner.
“Brandin would have had some solid moments in April, continued to trend up in May, and he would have had a ridiculous July,” Curro said. “He would have trended like one of those slow crescendos, and then, ‘Whoa!’ That’s him. The ‘Whoa!’ — we got to see in September and October.”
More recently than that, Podziemski — a 6-foot-5, 195-pound shooting guard — has competed in the NY2LA Top 40 League in Wisconsin. In one game there — against players with Division I potential — he scored 52 points, going 22-of-24 from the floor and making eight of his nine three-point attempts. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists.
“Brandin is just one of those kids that whatever team he walks on the court with, they’re instantly better,” Curro said. “He can score the basketball at a very high rate. He can shoot the basketball from anywhere on the court, highly efficient. And I think the unique part of him is that’s a small component of what he brings to the table. I think what’s so much greater is that he is a max effort young man — plays really hard on both ends. He can defend multiple positions. He has developed into a pretty darn good playmaking guard. He rebounds the basketball. He does whatever you ask him to do to get the ‘W,’ and he produces at a high level while doing it.”
Tyler Herro comparisons
As soon as Kentucky extended the scholarship offer, the comparisons to former UK guard Tyler Herro were inevitable. As more and more people learned about Podziemski, watched his highlights, noticed his ability as a scorer, and saw that he was from Wisconsin, the comparisons just kept coming. Herro is even involved in the Phenom U squad that now features Podziemski.
Curro has known Herro and worked with the budding NBA star since he was in grade school. He’s spent the past year or so working with Podziemski. “I hate the comparisons,” he said. “I think it’s unfair to both; it’s totally unfair to Brandin. … Tyler was exceptional in his own right. Brandin is exceptional in his own right.”
Herro had more length and athleticism — that’s not to say Podziemski is unathletic, by any means — and a little more flair to his game. “Tyler has that highlight-level stuff,” he said.
Podziemski has more of an “old school” approach. Curro likened it to former UK recruiting target Luke Kennard, who’s now with the Detroit Pistons, or former NBA All-Star Chris Mullin.
“Brandin has that lunch-pail, I’m going to give you buckets, rebounds, assists, steals and defense every day game,” he said. “Just a different dynamic.”
There are some similarities between Herro and Podziemski, however.
Podziemski — like Herro did a few years ago — bristles at the notion that he’s “just a shooter.” Yes, Podziemski can shoot. Yes, he can score. He averaged 27.6 points per game as a high school junior and made 45 percent of his three-point shots as a sophomore. In recent NY2LA League play, he hit 60 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. But he’s more than that.
“I think what Brandin is trying to say is, ‘Don’t pigeon-hole me as to just doing this.’ He does it at a very high level, but he brings so much more,” Curro said. “‘Don’t let that discount the fact that I can do all this other stuff, and I’m willing to do all this other stuff.’ He’s willing to do whatever coaches want him to do for the team to excel, and, in turn, for him to excel.”
Much as he tried to distance himself from the Herro comparison, there is one area where Curro was willing to say Podziemski is following a similar path. “Both of them have an organic, unique desire and chip on their shoulders that — if you bet against them — they will show you how good they are. And they will bust their butts to get there. You want to compare the two? Compare the fact that both of them have a ridiculous work ethic and an unbelievable confidence in themselves to deliver when it matters most and believe in themselves, even if others don’t.”
What’s next for Podziemski?
With the early signing period ending Wednesday and Podziemski still undecided, it means he’ll be a spring signee. That was always the expectation. Curro said the 17-year-old is in no rush to make a college decision and is still building relationships with the coaches recruiting him.
The past few months have been a bit of a whirlwind for Podziemski, who landed scholarship offers from schools such as Arizona State, Kansas State and Marquette a few months before blue-bloods Kentucky and Kansas came calling.
Right now, he’s barely inside the top 300 in the national rankings, though that will surely change soon. Curro estimated that Podziemski would already be in the 50-75 range — and trending upward — had basketball been played over the summer. And none of that is relevant anymore anyway, with major college coaches taking note of his game.
“It’s easy to say, ‘Well he’s ranked this.’ That doesn’t matter,” Curro said. “At the end of the day, the kid can play with anybody in the country. And he’s probably a top-50 kid nationally, when it’s all said and done. And I know he’s one of the top two or three pure shooters in America. So, in that capacity, take your rankings out the door.”
Some kids in Podziemski’s position might have jumped at the mention of a Kentucky scholarship offer. In this case — amid these strange times — both sides are taking things slow. For one, Podziemski hasn’t been able to make any campus trips due to the NCAA’s ongoing ban on recruiting visits. He hasn’t seen Lexington. Calipari hasn’t seen him play in person. It’s still unclear who will be on Kentucky’s roster for the 2021-22 season and what the Wildcats’ needs — and Podziemski’s opportunities to play right away — might be. It’s not even clear what this college basketball season will look like. How that unfolds will have a big impact on who’s back at UK next season.
“There’s a lot to it,” Curro said. “When you’re playing around with those types of schools, they have their process. And you have to respect it. … The opportunity is legitimate. It will be there. We’ve had multiple Zoom calls with Coach Cal in that capacity. But why rush something if you don’t need to rush it? Kentucky’s got their process, as does Brandin.”
Curro acknowledged that some college coaches will simply add talented players willy nilly to future rosters. “But that’s not the dynamic that works,” he said, noting that Kentucky does things its own way. “They have standards. They have things they want to accomplish as a program. They want to build a relationship.”
So, for now, that’s how it will be. Podziemski will continue to get to know the UK coaching staff from a distance and hope that he might be able to actually visit Lexington by the spring. His season is scheduled to start Dec. 1, and Kentucky’s coaches will continue to chart his progress on the court. A few months from now, when everything is a little more clear, he’ll make a decision.
“An opportunity like Kentucky, for this young man — that’s just a tremendous opportunity,” Curro said. “The fit has to be on both sides. And I think there’s really, really good synergy there. They’re developing dialogue. They’re developing a relationship. And, obviously, there will be other schools looking at the young man, as well. Wherever he goes, he’s going to be successful. And I know Kentucky is definitely in that mindset to look at very strongly. It’s a blessing to get that kind of an opportunity.”
