Five-star point guard Hunter Sallis picks Gonzaga. So what’s next for Kentucky?
Cross another name off of Kentucky’s recruiting list for next season.
Hunter Sallis — a 6-foot-5 combo guard from Omaha — revealed Friday morning that he will play for Gonzaga, an announcement that came as no surprise in college basketball recruiting circles after the Bulldogs emerged late last year as the most likely landing spot for the talented prospect.
Sallis technically had eight finalists in his recruitment, though only a few schools — chiefly, Gonzaga, Kentucky and North Carolina — had been mentioned as realistic destinations in recent months.
UK emerged as a possible favorite to land Sallis’ commitment shortly after the Wildcats extended a scholarship offer last summer, but Gonzaga had deeper roots in his recruitment, and that program could sell the success of similarly skilled guard Jalen Suggs — as well as the overall team success the undefeated Bulldogs have enjoyed this season — as the pursuit of Sallis reached its final stage.
Gonzaga was also the only school that was able to host Sallis for an official visit, a trip that came last January, just a few weeks before the NCAA shut down all recruiting travel due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Scholarship offers from Kentucky, North Carolina and other top schools didn’t come until after that recruiting “dead period” was in place.
In fact, Sallis said Friday morning that the official visit to Spokane — and meeting with the Gonzaga coaches on campus — played a major part in his final decision.
“On my visit, it just felt right,” he said. “I was able to go to their house, talk to their family and all of their people — and it just felt like the right move.”
Sallis led Millard North High School to its first Nebraska state championship this season and is the No. 6 overall prospect in the 2021 class, according to the 247sports composite rankings, making him the top recruit in Gonzaga’s history. The Bulldogs are also considered favorites for 7-footer Chet Holmgren, who is the No. 1 overall player in the 2021 class. Suggs was the No. 11 recruit nationally in last year’s composite rankings, and he’s now projected as a top-five NBA Draft pick.
Where Kentucky goes next
Sallis’ commitment to Gonzaga on Friday came as no surprise to Kentucky, which has been expanding its pool of possibilities as it searches for backcourt additions for next season.
UK has also extended scholarship offers to uncommitted five-star recruits Jaden Hardy and Trevor Keels, though the Cats don’t appear likely to land either player. (Hardy is expected to turn pro out of high school, and Duke has seemingly retaken the lead in Keels’ recruitment). UK has also been linked to highly touted high school point guard TyTy Washington, but the Herald-Leader was told this week that he is expected to end up elsewhere.
Kentucky will almost certainly add at least one more guard for next season, and it looks like the NCAA transfer portal will be the most likely source.
There are already several talented options, and more and more players are adding their names to the transfer portal every day. According to 247Sports analyst Travis Branham, there were 837 players in the portal as of Thursday morning (up from 455 players on the same date last year).
Earlier this week, 247Sports national analyst Eric Bossi ranked the top 10 players in the transfer portal — as of Wednesday morning — and two particular guards from that list will be well worth keeping an eye on in the coming weeks.
Bossi ranked Davidson senior Kellan Grady as the No. 3 available transfer, and the Herald-Leader was told Thursday that Kentucky will be a realistic landing spot for him. Grady — a 6-5 shooting guard from Boston — averaged 17.1 points per game and shot 38.2 percent from three-point range this past season. He has scored 2,002 total points in four seasons at Davidson and would be considered a graduate transfer for next season.
Former Kentucky high school star Justin Powell was No. 8 overall on the 247Sports list, and UK has been closely linked to his recruitment since the Louisville-area native announced this month that he would be leaving Auburn after one season.
There is no decision timetable for either Grady or Powell, and it’s expected that other backcourt players who would fit Kentucky’s needs for next season will be entering the NCAA transfer portal soon.
As of now, the Cats have signed highly touted point guard Nolan Hickman, with freshman guards Dontaie Allen and Devin Askew expected to return for their sophomore years. It’s also possible that graduate transfer guard Davion Mintz will return for one more year at UK — after leading the Cats in scoring and three-point shooting this past season — though Mintz has not yet made a final decision on his basketball future.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 10:02 AM.
