One of summer’s biggest basketball stars is visiting Kentucky. What are UK’s chances?
Following a busy July of in-person evaluations and a few weeks of relative inactivity on the recruiting trail, visit season is heating back up again for the Kentucky basketball program.
Starting Friday, the UK coaching staff was set to welcome combo guard Cason Wallace — one of the top stars on the grassroots circuit this summer — for an official visit to Lexington that will stretch into the weekend.
Wallace — a 6-foot-4, 185-pound prospect from Richardson, Texas — was already viewed as one of the best backcourt recruits in the 2022 class before solidifying that status on the Nike circuit in July. There, he led his Pro Skills team to a 7-0 record in regular-season play, earning Nike EYBL most valuable player honors in a league that was packed with the nation’s top prospects.
In all, Wallace and Pro Skills achieved a 12-1 record, their only loss coming to the Team Final squad — led by Jalen Duren and Dereck Lively II — that went on to win the Peach Jam title. The five-star guard averaged 15.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, making 84.0 percent of his free throws, shooting 36.5 percent from three-point range, and receiving rave reviews from talent scouts and national analysts in attendance.
247Sports analyst Brandon Jenkins, who covers recruiting nationally and is based in Texas, said Wallace didn’t have his best spring while adjusting to a new coaching staff, but any inconsistencies were ironed out in time for the biggest recruiting event of the year.
“It seemed like he came in with a big chip on his shoulder after not having his best season during the spring,” Jenkins told the Herald-Leader. “By the time Peach Jam hit, all things were clicking. You saw the best version of him, and he showed it at the right time. He definitely has a chance to be a consensus top-10 player in his class.”
247Sports currently ranks Wallace as the No. 16 player in the 2022 class, though he could be due for a bump with the next, post-summer update. Rivals.com posted a reworking of its 2022 rankings this week, moving Wallace up six spots to the No. 10 overall position.
On the court, Wallace is a dogged competitor who is accustomed to playing on the ball offensively — though he has the size and ability to play off the ball at the college level — and projects as a college-ready perimeter defender at the highest level. He’s developed a tremendous scoring package off the dribble, though Jenkins said he’ll be capable of hitting shots off the catch and could be a major offensive factor in such a role with his college team, in addition to the consistent defensive performance he’s expected to bring.
“He’s just a winner,” Jenkins said.
He clearly has John Calipari’s attention.
The UK coach extended a scholarship offer to Wallace on July 24, the same day his Nike season ended with that loss to Team Final in the Peach Jam quarterfinals. He doesn’t plan to waste much time with his recruiting process.
Cason Wallace and Kentucky
Rather than work his way through an unwieldy list of options, Wallace has already narrowed his recruitment to three schools: Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. All three programs will get official visits over the next few weeks — starting with UK — and a final decision is expected to be announced Nov. 7, three days before the early signing period begins.
Wallace has been relatively quiet about his recruitment in recent months, and there have not yet been any predictions from national analysts on his 247Sports Crystal Ball page, but there is an established narrative in recruiting circles as to his most likely destination.
“I think the popular opinion is that Kentucky is definitely in the lead, and I would lean in that direction, as well,” Jenkins said.
The analyst noted that UK’s pitch revolves around Wallace joining the “culture” of Calipari’s program that puts individual sacrifice toward ultimate team goals first, the type of approach Wallace has taken throughout his basketball career so far.
“‘You could thrive here, because you’re the ultimate dude that embodies what John Calipari is about,’” Jenkins said, relaying the UK pitch. “And I think that speaks volumes to him.”
Kentucky already has a 2022 commitment from five-star point guard Skyy Clark, and the Cats are expected to get another from five-star shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe, who was recently elevated by Rivals.com to the No. 1 ranking in that class. Those additions — along with some expected backcourt returnees from the upcoming UK team — might lead some star recruits to take pause at jumping into a possibly crowded situation.
Calipari, however, is clearly looking to add at least three instant-impact guards from the 2022 class to next year’s roster, and Wallace’s versatility and unselfishness seem a perfect fit for the situation.
“The way I look at it is, you put him in a backcourt position — either the ‘1,’ ‘2’ or the ‘3’ — and you plug him in with other great players, he’ll still affect winning,” Jenkins said. “He may not be the dude, but he definitely can affect winning in all sorts of roles.
“He’s a player that can buy into a role as just the ultimate glue guy or the ultimate defender or, ‘Oh, you need me to score? I’ll score.’ He’s just that versatile guy who can check a lot of boxes for a program. No matter who commits, he’ll find a way to get on the floor, stay on the floor and impact winning.”
Going into this final round of visits, things are looking good for the Wildcats, but it’s not over yet.
Texas Coach Chris Beard, who will host Wallace for an official visit next weekend, has made him the program’s top priority ever since seeing him play in person for the first time this summer. Wallace’s hometown is about 200 miles north of Austin, and Beard has already had ample recruiting success in his first few months with the Longhorns.
Tennessee, which will get Wallace’s last visit the weekend of Sept. 17, made him a major priority even before getting to see him play in person, and the Volunteers already hosted him for his only previous official visit back in June, after the NCAA lifted its restrictions on recruiting travel.
The Vols were also viewed as the favorite before Kentucky jumped in with an offer last month, possibly shifting that status.
“I would say Kentucky’s the favorite,” Jenkins said Thursday afternoon. “But there’s just a lot of different approaches you could go with his recruitment.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 6:30 AM.
