How are the recruits from Kentucky’s 2020 class doing in their new basketball homes?
Kentucky’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class of 2020 was ultimately a disappointment in the group’s only season of college basketball together.
With an almost entirely new roster and the COVID-19 pandemic preventing them from getting much time on the court before the start of the 2020-21 campaign, the Wildcats struggled to a 9-16 record, one of the program’s all-time worst seasons.
After it was over, nearly all of UK’s freshman recruits moved on with their basketball careers. Devin Askew and Cam’Ron Fletcher transferred to new colleges. Brandon Boston Jr. and Isaiah Jackson entered the NBA Draft. Terrence Clarke also declared for the NBA. Clarke was tragically killed in a car accident three months before the draft.
Lance Ware is the only player from that No. 1-ranked recruiting class who chose to return to Kentucky for another season. Ware is averaging just 1.9 points and 1.9 rebounds per game so far, though he has played some valuable minutes in the frontcourt this season.
Here’s a look at how UK’s other 2020 recruits are doing with their new teams.
Devin Askew
Pressed into starting point guard duties as a reclassified freshman, Askew struggled mightily in his only season with the Wildcats before transferring to Texas last summer. He’s actually getting about half the playing time with the Longhorns as he did at Kentucky last season.
Askew, who averaged 29.0 minutes per game at UK, is averaging 15.2 minutes per game with Texas, playing behind a trio of experienced senior guards: Marcus Carr, Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey.
The former Wildcat is averaging 2.1 points and 1.5 assists per game. He’s seventh on the team in minutes played, 10th in scoring, ninth in field-goal attempts and fifth in assists. He’ll presumably get more opportunities once that trio of seniors moves on, though Texas does have two point guard commitments from the Top 100 national rankings coming in next season, and one of those players is five-star recruit Arterio Morris.
Askew’s season-high in points came in the second game of the season: nine points in a loss to Gonzaga. That was the only game in which he’s taken more than four shots, and he doesn’t have more than six points in any other game so far. His season-high in assists is four.
Brandon Boston Jr.
The most celebrated recruit in Kentucky’s 2020 class, Boston was No. 5 in the 247Sports composite rankings and billed as a one-and-done lottery pick, but he, too, struggled last season. Boston averaged 11.5 points per game — and shot 35.5 percent from the floor — seeing his NBA stock slide dramatically. He was selected with the No. 51 pick in the 2021 draft.
Boston played six games in the G League, including a 46-point performance — going 9-for-12 from three-point range in that one — in November, but he’s been with the Los Angeles Clippers ever since.
In 36 games at the NBA level, Boston is averaging 7.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 16.1 minutes per game. He scored a career-high 27 points against the Boston Celtics on Dec. 8, and he had six double-digit scoring games last month, often playing more than 20 minutes per game.
Boston dedicated his performance against the Celtics to Clarke, his former UK teammate who was also a close friend off the court.
“He always pushed me to be my best self, so I always keep that in the back of my mind,” Boston said after that game.
Boston and the Clippers were to play the rival Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. Thursday on TNT.
Cam’Ron Fletcher
Fletcher — the No. 71 recruit in the 2020 class — got the least amount of playing time of any scholarship player on Kentucky’s roster last season. He played just 6.6 minutes over nine games, and he saw action in just two games after a public outburst on the UK bench in December ultimately led John Calipari to suspend Fletcher from the team for several days.
After finishing out his freshman year with UK, the St. Louis native ended up at Florida State, where he’s averaging 5.4 points and 2.5 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game off the bench for the Seminoles this season. Fletcher has shown a pretty good three-point stroke (13-for-34 for 38.2 percent), and he has five double-digit scoring games so far.
Fletcher has tailed off a bit in the last month. He hasn’t scored more than eight points since Jan. 1, and he’s 12-for-33 from the floor in nine games over that span. Still, Fletcher is a regular member of FSU’s rotation this season, eighth on the team in minutes played and seventh in total points. The Seminoles are 13-7 and sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.
Isaiah Jackson
Jackson ended up as the No. 30 overall recruit in the 2020 class — partly due to questions about his offensive game — but his rim-protection skills, rebounding ability, athleticism and general upside shown as a freshman at UK led to him being the Cats’ top draft pick. The 6-10 forward was selected with the No. 22 pick by the Indiana Pacers.
Jackson has played a handful of games in the G League, but most of his rookie season has been spent with the NBA club. He’s averaging 5.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 10.0 minutes per game for the Pacers, and his best results have come in the past week.
Jackson scored 17 points last Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets, then scored 12 points against the Dallas Mavericks three days later — just his second and third double-digit scoring games in 17 appearances to that point.
On Monday night, Jackson made his first NBA start, and he didn’t disappoint. The former Wildcat went for 26 points and 10 rebounds, going 12-for-19 from the floor and playing 29 minutes in a win over the Clippers. The points, rebounds and minutes totals were all season-highs. He also had zero fouls Monday after struggling in that aspect throughout the season.
Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle said afterward that he’s been amazed by Jackson’s athletic ability, something Kentucky fans got to see plenty of last season.
“When you watch the way he can elevate so effortlessly, it’s as if he can fly. He’s just an amazing, amazing athlete,” Carlisle said.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
