National analyst has prediction on Kentucky basketball recruiting target Trevor Keels
Another new prediction on the recruitment of five-star Kentucky basketball target Trevor Keels is in. It’s not a good sign for the Wildcats.
Rob Cassidy, the new lead basketball recruiting analyst at Rivals.com, has logged a FutureCast pick in favor of Duke for Keels, one of the top uncommitted prospects in the class of 2021 and UK’s newest target for next season.
Kentucky extended a scholarship offer to Keels this month as the team continues to look for backcourt help for next season. The Cats had long been recruiting Jaden Hardy and Hunter Sallis — two versatile guards, both ranked among the top 10 players nationally in the 2021 class — but there’s a growing narrative in recruiting circles that Hardy will ultimately jump straight to the professional ranks and that Sallis is leaning toward Gonzaga.
Keels — a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from the Washington, D.C., area — is the No. 20 overall player in the 2021 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, and he was named a McDonald’s All-American on Tuesday.
Cassidy’s prediction in favor of Duke comes just a few days after Eric Bossi, the lead recruiting analyst at 247Sports, also logged a prediction for the Blue Devils on Keels’ Crystal Ball page.
It should be noted that Bossi gave his own prediction a confidence rating of just “4” on a 1-10 scale. He did not discount the Wildcats’ chances of landing Keels in a follow-up post on 247Sports.
“Keep an eye out on UK to make some noise — there’s just something about them jumping in this late that creates a hard to shake feeling but for now I’ll still give the slightest of edges to Duke,” Bossi wrote last week.
Keels has narrowed his college choices to Duke, Kentucky, Villanova and Virginia, and he’s expected to wait until the spring to make a commitment, giving himself a chance to see what the rosters will look like at those four schools next season. That should also give UK more of a chance to make up some ground in his recruitment.
This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 10:02 AM.
