Recruiting crystal ball says Kentucky could soon be stocked with point guard talent
Emerging Kentucky basketball recruiting target Scoota Henderson was the standout player at the recent Hoopsgiving showcase in Atlanta, but another more immediate — and certain — part of UK’s future also impressed.
Nolan Hickman — the first player from the 2021 class to commit to the Wildcats — played two games in the event with his new Wasatch Academy (Utah) squad, and while he’s still getting adjusted to his new team after transferring in the offseason from his hometown of Seattle, he didn’t disappoint.
247Sports ranks Hickman — a 6-foot-3 point guard — as the No. 30 overall player in the 2021 class, and 247 analyst Travis Branham caught both of his games in Atlanta.
“He’s a solid player. He’s really skilled. Smart,” Branham told the Herald-Leader. “He functions on and off the ball fluidly, so if he’s on the ball vs. off the ball, you’re not really going to see a major difference in how he impacts the game. He’s going to be effective both on and off it. He’s a good ball handler. He has great vision and passing ability — I actually think that’s his biggest strength is his ability to get in the paint and just find teammates, whether it be guys cutting to the rim or on the block in the dunker’s spot or spotting up on the perimeter. He just has a good feel for the game.”
Hickman didn’t have his best shooting weekend at the event, but Branham and other analysts have seen enough of his outside game to project him as a prospect who will be effective from beyond the arc at the next level. He’s often mentioned as a player who should be among John Calipari’s best shooting point guards at Kentucky.
His latest appearance on the big stage showed off his versatility. This season, he’s sharing the backcourt with five-star point guard “Pop Pop” Isaacs, one of the top players nationally in the junior class. As a result, Hickman won’t be playing on the ball quite as much as he has in the past.
He knew that was going to be the situation when he transferred, a sign of his openness to play with other similarly talented players as a means to improve his own game and help the team get victories.
“Nolan’s a high IQ kid. He is unselfish,” Branham said. “He’s going to play on or off the ball. It doesn’t matter to him.”
Branham noted that Hickman played one game primarily on the ball and one game off. In the former, he showed off his vision and playmaking ability, especially when working out of the pick and roll. In the latter, he showed an ability to impact the game in other ways. In addition to his shooting touch, Hickman — a strong point guard with a 6-7 wingspan — has proven himself as a great rebounder for his position.
Hickman isn’t the best athlete and doesn’t have a great “burst” with the ball in his hands, according to Branham, but he’s “shifty” and adept at using change of speed and direction to get to where he wants to go on the court. Once there, his vision as a passer takes over.
“To me, he’s at his best when he’s in the pick and roll with the ball in his hands, because that creates a little bit of separation with that guard and he can then go ahead and attack that big man and get into the paint and play-make off of that,” Branham said.
Multiple point guards
One of the biggest concerns among UK fans in the early going this season seems to be point guard play. Freshman Devin Askew — a reclassified player who just turned 18 years old in late July — has been inconsistent early on. That’s to be expected after any semblance of a normal preseason was wiped out due to COVID-19. In addition to that less-than-optimal leadup to the season, Askew was immediately faced with the veteran backcourts of Richmond, Kansas and Georgia Tech. There were no exhibitions or series of cupcake games to get acquainted with college ball. And it’ll be entirely high-major opponents from here on out.
Davion Mintz, meanwhile, has also had his share of careless turnovers, and — while he was a bright spot as a three-point shooter in the early games — has also been uneven from the point guard position. In the short term, these players deserve more time and patience as they get adjusted to entirely new surroundings under unprecedented circumstances.
After this season, it’s looking like Calipari will have plenty of options at the position.
Askew will likely be back for another year. Hickman has already signed for next season. Early 2022 commitment Skyy Clark — a five-star point guard — might still reclassify. UK is also still heavily pursuing — and possibly the favorite for — five-star point guard Hunter Sallis and five-star combo guard Jaden Hardy, two of the top players in the 2021 class.
It could be an embarrassment of riches at the point guard spot for Calipari starting next season, and the beauty of the aforementioned players is they’re all capable of playing on or off the ball. Askew, Hickman, Clark, Sallis and Hardy are all good to great outside shooters, and they all project as good to great playmakers. (All of them are also 6-3 or taller).
Hickman projects as a multi-year college player — and he was ranked much lower than the typical Calipari point guard recruit at the time of his UK commitment — but Branham expects him to see the floor plenty in year one.
“He’s going to be utilized one way or another,” he said, noting that if he’s not the main ball handler as a freshman, he’ll find other ways to chip in. “Again, he’s smart. He’s unselfish. So he’s not demanding the ball, demanding shots. Nothing like that. He’s just looking for ways to be effective off it. … He’ll be an effective shooter next year at Kentucky. He’s just a skilled, solid player. He’s going to be a good tool for John Calipari at Kentucky for multiple years.”
Looking ahead at UK
Glance even further into Kentucky’s point guard future, and there’s more good fortune to be found.
Hickman is likely to be in college for more than a season. If Clark stays in the 2022 class, he’ll come to UK as Hickman begins his sophomore year. Askew might even be around for more than two seasons. And then there’s the rest of the 2022 class, which includes five-star point guards Scoota Henderson and Jaden Bradley — two players UK is still seriously pursuing.
Branham talked specifically about the possibility of a Hickman-Clark-Henderson team-up at Kentucky, but there are other combinations that could work out. Calipari has shown he can make multiple point guard lineups work — last season’s trio of Ashton Hagans, Immanuel Quickley and Tyrese Maxey is just the most recent example — and it’s a dynamic that’s starting to play well on the recruiting trail. Point guards and their parents are beginning to talk with more excitement about teaming up with other playmakers, as opposed to going to a school where the lion’s share of the point guard minutes will be guaranteed.
“He has a knack for utilizing three guys that like to play with the ball in their hands and finding a way to make it successful,” Branham said of Calipari. “So if you combine those three — Scoot, Skyy and Nolan — I would think Scoot’s probably best suited on the ball. … Just because he’s not a great shooter off of it yet. Whereas Skyy and Nolan Hickman can both make shots off the ball, and they both function off the ball well.
“But, again, Cal would find a way to make it work with that much talent on the court.”
Class of 2023
The Kentucky buzz has already begun for some elite point guards just entering their sophomore years of high school.
Camden (N.J.) point guard DJ Wagner — the No. 1 overall player in the entire 2023 class — is the son of former Calipari recruit Dajuan Wagner, the grandson of Louisville great (and former Calipari assistant) Milt Wagner, and the UK coach remains close with the family. (Wagner’s stepbrother, Kareem Watkins, is now on the Wildcats’ team as a freshman walk-on, in fact).
If Wagner — a 6-3 prospect — goes to college, Kentucky is already the heavy favorite.
The Cats also seem well-positioned for the No. 2 point guard in the 2023 class: Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, a 6-foot playmaker from Lafayette, Ind., and the No. 9 overall player in the class.
247Sports profiled Gibbs-Lawhorn late last week. He already holds scholarship offers from Indiana and Purdue, but he mentioned Kentucky as a “dream school” and says he’s been in recent contact with new UK assistant coach Bruiser Flint, who was previously at Indiana.
“They said it was just an introduction and they want to reach out to me more and whenever I can, to come on a visit,” Gibbs-Lawhorn told 247Sports. “They’re like my dream school, if I got an offer from Kentucky I’d probably start crying, not going to lie. Just growing up as a kid, Kentucky was always looked at as a higher basketball program who always got their players drafted and one and done out of high school. My goal is the NBA, and I feel like Kentucky can lead me to that.”
If you’re John Calipari, that’s what you want to hear from the top young prospects in the game.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 7:54 AM.
