Calipari’s latest recruiting target has a similar mindset and a UK connection
Shaedon Sharpe has emerged as one of the hottest names in basketball recruiting circles this winter, and a scholarship offer from the University of Kentucky — announced earlier this month — is the latest marker of his achievement on the court.
Sharpe might be a relatively new prospect even to those who follow recruiting closely, but he has been on UK’s radar for quite some time. That’s thanks to a pre-existing tie from the Wildcats’ recent past that could be beneficial as they look toward the future.
About a year ago, Dwayne Washington — the founder and director of the Nike-affiliated UPlay Canada travel club — called UK assistant coach Joel Justus and told him to be on the lookout for Sharpe, an uber-athletic Ontario native just wrapping up his sophomore year of high school.
Last season was Sharpe’s first in the United States, and he averaged about six points per game for perennial powerhouse Sunrise Christian (Kan.), not exactly the numbers you’d expect from a serious Kentucky target.
Sharpe — a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from London, Ont. — was still getting acquainted to his new surroundings, however, still adjusting to playing ball and going to school in the United States, living away from his family for the first time, more than a thousand miles from his home.
Washington told UK’s coaches to make sure and check Sharpe out once the Nike EYBL season started in April. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic canceled pretty much every major recruiting event this past spring and summer — the Nike league included — and Sharpe didn’t get a chance to show coaches from Kentucky or anywhere else what he could do against elite competition.
Still, he had UK’s attention.
Kentucky basketball connection
Before Washington coached Sharpe, he played a similar role in the development of another Canadian basketball prospect: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Washington dealt with Justus and John Calipari during that recruitment. He attended practices once Gilgeous-Alexander arrived in Lexington, and he recognized and respected what it took to be a successful basketball player at Kentucky. He also told UK’s coaches that he would let them know if he ever had such a player in the future.
“Obviously Shai worked — and that’s what Shaedon is going to do — but Calipari does what he says,” Washington told the Herald-Leader. “You have to put the work in. And you have to compete. And you have to be mentally tough. And you have to come in every day and put the work in every day, without feeling bad for yourself. And, if you do that, good things happen.”
Calipari still holds up Gilgeous-Alexander as a prime example of what happens when a young player combines talent with a do-whatever-it-takes work ethic, and the Canada native — now with the Oklahoma City Thunder — is one of UK’s greatest individual success stories over the past few seasons. He came in projected to be a multi-year college player. He left after one season as an NBA lottery pick.
Sharpe plays a different style of basketball than Gilgeous-Alexander, but Washington sees similarities in the way they carry themselves. That’s why — even though UK’s coaches couldn’t see him play over the summer — they took Washington’s call seriously.
Over the first few games of his junior season — now at Dream City Christian (Ariz.), playing against a national schedule on the highly competitive Grind Session — Sharpe averaged 24.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He went from unlisted a year ago to No. 42 nationally in the 247Sports rankings. (There’s been reclassification talk surrounding Sharpe, but Washington said he would “for sure” stay in the 2022 class).
A few weeks ago, Washington called Calipari to put in another good word.
The UK coach likes to get a look, in person, at a player before extending a scholarship offer, but a viewing of Sharpe’s recent game film — along with a trusted recommendation from Washington — was apparently enough in this case.
Washington said he had no idea a UK scholarship offer would come this quickly. It wasn’t requested or expected. He said Sharpe took the news as an “honor and a blessing.”
“Shaedon’s glass is half full, and he knows it,” Washington said. “He’s willing to learn and grow without taking things personal. He’s willing to go through the fire. If you’re going to go to a school like Kentucky, you can’t have people telling you you’re great. You have to have people telling you what you’re not good at. ‘Are you ready to get coached? Are you ready to go to the next level?’
“He’s willing to receive the information — constructive criticism — and play in a daily competitive environment.”
Getting better
Sharpe didn’t get to travel the country playing against top competition with UPlay Canada this past summer, but it was a fruitful offseason nonetheless.
Washington said he was in the gym with him training five days a week for three hours a day over about a five-month period. One of their main areas of focus: shooting.
Sharpe has long been seen as a terrific athlete — he has been measured with a 45-inch vertical — and his coach says he has “excellent” ball skills, but, by all accounts, he’s now combining that with an ability to shoot the ball from mid-range and distance.
Washington said Sharpe has always had a soft shooting touch, so they worked on honing that stroke with a special emphasis on limiting his dribbles, increasing his shot arc, getting to his spots on the court, being ready to shoot once he got the ball, and recognizing when to release his jumper.
“And most importantly, the confidence that comes with knowing when you’re open and what’s a good shot,” he said. “And slowing down to let things come to you. When you hunt for stuff too much, then it doesn’t work.”
Apparently, the extra time in the gym has worked. Sharpe has added a new — and vitally important — wrinkle to his game. If he can combine consistent shooting ability to everything that goes along with his elite, natural athleticism, there’s no telling what his upside might be.
Washington says he thinks Sharpe is a top-10 or top-15 caliber talent in a stacked 2022 recruiting class. If next year’s Nike EYBL schedule is played, more coaches and scouts will see that.
And then …
“He will shoot up as high as he wants to go,” Washington said.
Perhaps the best attribute that Sharpe has, however, has nothing to do with straight basketball skills. Washington says the 17-year-old knows he’s not a complete player, and he knows he’s a long way from coming anywhere close to unlocking his full potential.
Kentucky and Kansas extended scholarship offers this month. Illinois and Oregon did the same a few weeks earlier. His national ranking has skyrocketed in a matter of months and is on a trajectory to go even higher. So far, he’s not letting any of that go to his head.
Gilgeous-Alexander, during his time at Kentucky, didn’t take anything for granted. He was always looking for ways to get better. Sharpe sounds like he might be taking a similar path.
“He has a long way to go,” Washington said. “Does he have what it takes? Yes. But there’s work to be done. There’s always work to be done.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
