Experts say Texas leads, but can Kentucky pull Keyonte George out of Big 12 country?
Nearly an hour before tip-off of the opening game of Adidas circuit play Thursday morning, Chris Beard had already staked out his position.
The new Texas head coach was standing just a few feet from the sideline on Court 7 of the sprawling Hoover Metropolitan Complex, where five-star shooting guard Keyonte George was warming up for his first July recruiting period in two years.
With the COVID-19 pandemic wiping out grassroots basketball last summer, this July evaluation period — the first of three like it this month — was even more anticipated than usual among college coaches wanting to get a look at their top recruiting targets against elite competition.
For the coaches watching a prospect like George, however, it’s less about evaluating talent and more about simply being seen.
The coaches pursuing George’s commitment knew long ago that he was good enough to play at their schools. Now, it’s all about convincing the 6-foot-5 star to give them a commitment.
In Beard’s case, he might be playing this recruitment from the lead, and Thursday’s decision to show up early wasn’t lost on his prized recruit.
“I’ve been talking to Beard since my freshman year,” George said after the game. “We built a good relationship — just like I did with all the other schools that are in my top five. You know, just to see him here real early — it’s kind of an early game — he didn’t really have to come, get up early. He could have come tomorrow to some of my later games.
“So just to see him here that early, watch me warm up — I’ll keep that in mind.”
George has a lot on his mind these days.
Earlier this year, he narrowed his recruitment to five schools: Baylor, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma State and Texas.
A standout from Lewisville, Texas — just outside of Dallas, a little more than 200 miles north of Austin — George has long been regarded as the best shooting guard in the 2022 class. He’s currently the No. 4 overall player in the 247Sports composite rankings, behind only Jalen Duren, Emoni Bates and Amari Bailey.
With Duren looking likely to reclassify to 2021, Bates expected by just about everyone to jump straight to the pros, and Bailey already committed to UCLA, the consensus says that George is the best available college basketball prospect nationally in that 2022 class.
The consensus also says home-state Texas is the major favorite.
National analysts from both 247Sports and Rivals.com have logged Crystal Ball predictions and FutureCast picks in favor of the Longhorns over the past month. Beard’s early arrival Thursday morning shows anyone paying attention how much he means to that coaching staff.
And George, when asked directly what he thinks about the narrative that Texas is the leader for his commitment, didn’t come out and deny it, instead talking about that relationship he’s built with Beard and his assistant coaches.
Done deal? Maybe not just yet.
Since June 1, when the NCAA ended its pandemic-related ban on recruiting travel and allowed colleges to host prospects for the first time since March of last year, George has taken official visits to Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas — every school on his list except for UK.
The Cats are the outlier on that visit list, obviously, but they’re also the exception among George’s overall top five. Every other school he’s considering is in the Big 12, closer to home.
So, does Kentucky actually have a chance to pull George out of Big 12 country?
The affable 17-year-old answered the question with a wide grin.
“I mean, it’s Kentucky,” he said. “They have the power to do anything.”
Recruiting Keyonte George
George noted to reporters after Thursday’s game that he specifically saw Beard and Baylor Coach Scott Drew in the bleachers for his July debut, adding that — once the ball was tipped — he quit looking to see who was watching him.
That means he missed John Calipari.
UK’s coaching staff arrived in force at the Adidas event Thursday morning.
Orlando Antigua and Jai Lucas sat front row, center court for George’s game, while Calipari and Chin Coleman walked to the next court over to see fellow top-five recruit Chris Livingston.
Just a couple of minutes into Livingston’s game, Calipari got up from his seat and stood in between the two courts, keeping an eye on both players.
George proved to be a major distraction.
The shifty, athletic guard took guys off the dribble at will — mixing in spin moves, stutter steps and crossovers — exploded into the lane, and finished at the basket. He drew several fouls on his way to the hoop, knocked down at least one three-pointer with Calipari looking on, and played attentive defense on the other end of the court.
George ended up with 19 points in a 75-58 victory, but the box score didn’t tell the story. To anyone unfamiliar with his designation as the No. 1 shooting guard in the country, he probably looked like a point guard.
George was a leader on the floor — taking over in the halfcourt, setting up his team’s offense, and directing teammates where to go as he kept a tight handle on the ball with his head up and surveying the defense.
He said others have compared him to Brad Beal and Russell Westbrook, but he prefers the comparison to Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell, describing his game as one with a similar pace and knack for getting downhill while also being able to make shots from all over the court.
George also said he’s been working out with fellow Texan and former Kentucky standout De’Aaron Fox, now a star point guard for the Sacramento Kings.
Fox has been schooling George on life in the NBA, and he’s told him that — to maximize his versatility and potential as a pro — honing his point guard playmaking traits would be the right move.
“So I’ve been working on being a PG, leading guys, getting different guys to spots, and just taking over the game if I have to,” George said.
According to the star recruit, George and Fox haven’t talked much about college recruiting, in general, or Kentucky, specifically. But George is well aware of Calipari’s track record, and he’s continuing to build a solid relationship with the UK coaching staff.
Lucas, another fellow Texan, is in constant contact. George has spoken with Calipari on multiple occasions and looks forward to more of that in the future. He’s also working on setting up an official visit to Lexington, though he said there’s no firm date or timetable yet for such a trip. It likely won’t come until August, at the earliest, with his July booked with Adidas play.
George also had a message that should give Kentucky fans a sense that the Wildcats still have a shot. He knows what UK has done for other star players, and he can apparently see such a future for himself.
“It’s always been a winning program,” he said. “He got a lot of people to the league. Coach Cal — he pushes his best players, gets them where they want to be. If you want to be in the NBA, he’ll get you there.
“So I know when I get there, he’ll push me to be my best. Be one of the greatest to ever come through Kentucky, hopefully.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 3:46 PM.
