Major Kentucky basketball target Jaden Hardy sheds some light on his recruitment
Five-star combo guard Jaden Hardy was one of Kentucky’s earliest recruiting priorities in the class of 2021, and it sounds like he has an idea of when he’ll announce his next basketball destination.
Hardy — a 6-foot-5 prospect from the Las Vegas area and the No. 2 overall recruit in the senior class — was named to the McDonald’s All-American roster Tuesday. He sat down for an interview with local TV station KSNV 3 later in the week and shed some light on his recruiting process.
“Right now, I’m weighing all my options,” Hardy said. “I’m still looking at college. I’m still looking at professional routes. So, right now, I’m just taking my time. I’m probably going to make a decision in April. So, right now, I’m really just praying about it and really just hoping that once it’s all over I’m happy with my decision.”
Kentucky extended a scholarship offer to Hardy prior to his junior season of high school and was immediately seen as the favorite in his recruitment. But he never got to visit Lexington before the NCAA shut down recruiting travel due to COVID-19 last March, and — with that “dead period” in effect through at least the end of May — he won’t get to take official visits to any of the college options on his list.
Even before the dead period was extended, the chatter that Hardy was most likely to jump straight to the pros — possibly joining the G League’s developmental program — had picked up. 247Sports national analysts Eric Bossi and Jerry Meyer have both logged predictions in favor of the professional route on Hardy’s Crystal Ball page.
Kentucky has continued to recruit Hardy despite the pro rumors, which have been around for more than a year now. Even if Hardy goes the college route, however, UK might not be the favorite. UCLA has also been mentioned as a possible frontrunner, and Oregon — where Hardy’s brother is playing this season as a graduate transfer — is among his other options.
The G League might be too much to pass up.
Hardy has said in the past he would rely on friends such as Jalen Green — the No. 2 overall recruit in the 2020 class — who are taking that route this season for advice with his own decision, and Green has repeatedly been positive about his chosen path in recent interviews.
Green is leading the G League Ignite team, which features three other five-star recruits from the 2020 class, with 16.8 points per game this month.
In an interview Tuesday afternoon on ESPN’s “The Jump” — the same program that featured the McDonald’s All-American announcements — Green again said he was happy with his decision.
“At first, it was a little difficult, just because college was playing before us,” he said. “But now we’ve started getting going. Now we’ve been in practices and stuff … just learning how to be a pro, on and off the court. So it’s been fun.”
Hardy opted out of his senior season of high school after just a few games. Before that, he was averaging 34.2 points per game and had already cemented his standing as the top perimeter prospect in his class.
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 11:15 PM.
