Few top-25 recruits are uncommitted for next basketball season. Where will they go?
It has been a busy few weeks on the basketball recruiting trail, with several of the nation’s top prospects wrapping up the process with relatively early college decisions.
We’re still a month away from the early signing period — scheduled for Nov. 10-17 — and only seven of the top 25 players in the 247Sports rankings for 2022 remain uncommitted. A few of those recruits — including two major Kentucky targets — are expected to make college announcements soon. There’s a chance they might all be off the board by the end of November.
For a 2022 class that largely missed out on the recruiting process — with all campus visits banned from March 2020 to June 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions — this group’s biggest prospects are making their college choices quickly.
The top six players in the 247Sports rankings were all committed by the end of September. In the 2021 class, only one of the top seven recruits in the rankings made a decision that quickly.
Here’s a look at who’s left at the top of the 2022 board, and which schools are still in the mix.
7. Cason Wallace
The top backcourt player remaining on Kentucky’s 2022 recruiting board is also the highest-ranked uncommitted prospect in the class. Wallace — a 6-foot-4 combo guard from the Dallas area — has narrowed his list to UK, Tennessee and Texas, and he has taken official visits to all three schools.
Kentucky already has commitments from point guard Skyy Clark, shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe and wing Chris Livingston — all five-star perimeter players — but the Wildcats are also viewed as the favorites to land Wallace’s pledge. There had been some speculation that Wallace might make an early fall decision, but it looks like he’s going to stick to his original commitment date of Nov. 7, which would still allow him to sign in the early period.
9. Yohan Traore
One of the breakout stars on the grassroots circuit this summer, Traore has gone from unranked nationally to a consensus top-10 recruit in a matter of months. (Rivals.com even ranks him as the No. 4 overall player in this class). The 6-foot-10 center from France is a high school teammate of UK commitment and No. 1 overall recruit Shaedon Sharpe at Dream City Christian (Ariz.), though Kentucky has not been linked to his recruitment.
The French big man still has several schools on his list, but Memphis has been receiving the most buzz in recent weeks. Penny Hardaway doesn’t have any commitments from top-100 recruits in the 2022 cycle so far.
10. Adem Bona
The other big name on Kentucky’s wish list for 2022 is Bona, a near-7-footer from Nigeria now playing for Prolific Prep (Calif.). An athletic big man who projects as an instant-impact rebounder and defender at the college level, Bona has narrowed his recruitment to Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas and the Australia-based NBL pro league, but this one is expected to come down to the Wildcats and the Bruins.
John Calipari has visited with Bona twice in California over the past few weeks, and Kentucky hosted him for an official visit earlier this month. He’s scheduled to take his official visit to UCLA on Oct. 22, and a final decision is expected to come after that, possibly in time for the early signing period. Bona is clearly UK’s priority target for the frontcourt in this 2022 class, but UCLA still poses a real threat to land his commitment.
11. Mark Mitchell
The 6-8 small forward from Kansas visited Missouri over the weekend, and he also has Duke, Kansas and UCLA on his list of finalists. Mitchell’s recruitment is expected to be a battle between the Blue Devils and the Bruins, and whatever he decides could have an impact on the No. 1 team ranking for the 2022 cycle. Duke already has commitments from three of the top-12 recruits in the class, and landing Mitchell would go a long way toward securing the No. 1 ranking for the Blue Devils. With Kentucky still in the mix for Cason Wallace and Adem Bona, the Wildcats remain Duke’s top competition for that spot. Like with Bona, the race for Mitchell’s commitment appears too close to call at the moment.
Duke is scheduled to host Mitchell for his final official visit next weekend, so he could also have a decision ready to go in time for the early signing period.
13. Jarace Walker
Alabama currently sits at No. 48 in the 247Sports team recruiting rankings with just one commitment, but that pledge is a big one — five-star point guard Jaden Bradley — and Nate Oats’ program likely isn’t finished making waves in this cycle. The Crimson Tide have been getting the most buzz in recent weeks for Walker, who visited Tuscaloosa earlier this month alongside Bradley, a high school teammate and roommate at IMG Academy (Fla.). A former IMG player, Alabama’s Darius Miles, was Walker’s recruiting host on that visit, so the ties to the Tide are strong.
The powerful 6-8 forward from Pennsylvania is also considering Auburn, Houston, Louisiana State and Ohio State, and he’s expected to make a decision before the early signing period.
16. Brandon Miller
Another five-star prospect on Alabama’s wish list, Miller is a high-upside, 6-8 forward from the Nashville area and a former Kentucky recruiting target. UK extended a scholarship offer to Miller relatively early in the process and then hosted him for an official visit to Lexington in June, but the Cats are no longer in the mix for his commitment. Miller was expected to announce a college decision in late September, but things have changed over the past couple of weeks. He postponed that announcement and has since added Kansas to a list of finalists that also includes Alabama, Tennessee State, the G League and the NBL.
Miller is supposed to visit Kansas’ campus and the G League facility this month, and he, too, could have a decision in time to sign early. His recruitment will be worth monitoring, however, even if there is a fall commitment. Miller has been strongly linked to the professional route for the past few months, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him ultimately end up in the G League. For now, Alabama has all eight predictions across his Crystal Ball and Rivals.com FutureCast pages, though all of those picks came in before he pushed back his commitment date last month.
19. Anthony Black
One of the most intriguing players in the 2022 class, Black is a former standout on the football field — and, at one time, a top wide receiver recruit — who has developed into a five-star prospect on the basketball court. At 6-7, he’s looking like a possible point guard at the college level, though he could also be a playmaking wing player depending on the personnel around him. UK was briefly linked to his recruitment, but no scholarship offer was ever extended.
Black’s list has been a bit in flux over the past few months. Oklahoma State picked up some predictions on the recruiting sites late in the summer, but Arkansas hosted the Dallas-area standout for an official visit last month and Gonzaga did the same for its midnight madness event over the weekend. The Zags have zero top-100 commitments for next season and could be an interesting fit for Black’s unique skill set. His suitors are in wait-and-see mode, but it sounds like Black could also be ready to announce a decision before the start of the early signing period next month.
