Next Cats player page: Kentucky signee Bryce Hopkins
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Next Cats player pages
Bio information, video highlights and the latest rankings for all of Kentucky’s basketball commitments and recruiting targets for the class of 2021 and beyond. These pages include John Calipari’s quotes on the UK signees for next season, as well as the newest Crystal Ball predictions for the Wildcats’ top uncommitted targets.
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Bryce Hopkins certainly took an interesting path through the recruiting process.
The Chicago-area standout was committed to the University of Louisville for about nine months before backing off of that pledge over the summer. Kentucky was one of the first schools to reach out and gauge his interest after that decommitment, and he was committed to the Wildcats by October, officially signing with the team on Nov. 11.
BRYCE HOPKINS
- Small forward | Oak Park, Ill.
- 6-foot-6, 215 pounds
- 247Sports: No. 38 overall
- Rivals.com: No. 28 overall
- ESPN.com: No. 25 overall
Hopkins is an incredibly versatile player with the skill set to play on the perimeter and the physicality to make an impact around the basket. With a 7-foot wingspan, a strong body, and a willingness to play a physical brand of ball, he’s the type of player that John Calipari should be able to use in a variety of ways, depending on who else shares the court with him and that night’s matchup for the Wildcats.
“I think he plays well in today’s game of basketball with positionless players,” Fenwick High Coach Staunton Peck told the Herald-Leader. “He’s, offensively, very much like that. At 6-6, 6-7 with long arms, he has point guard ball-handling skills. But he’s also physical. So, if a smaller guard is guarding him, he’s very comfortable cutting into the post and scoring inside. He’s not afraid of contact and being physical.
“And if he has a bigger guy on him, he has a great first step and quickness and ball-handling skills to where he can easily blow by a guy on the perimeter. And he has a good three-point shot. He had multiple games last year where he hit four-plus threes in a game. He’s definitely not an all-inside guy or an all-perimeter guy.”
“Physical” and “gritty” are two words often used to describe Hopkins on the court. He rebounds his position very well and excels at using his length to his advantage on the defensive end. Hopkins averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game as a junior and had Fenwick in the Illinois state tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the postseason.
He projects as a multi-year player in college, though he should be able to contribute for the Cats right off the bat next season.
Quotable
“In terms of success at a place like Kentucky, I know — just knowing Bryce — he’ll be great there. Does that mean it’ll happen that first semester of his freshman year? I mean, it could. … I view him as an NBA-type talent. He’s obviously not ready for the NBA right now, but that’s the type of drive and ability he has. Is that going to happen freshman year in college? Maybe. But I think it’ll definitely happen at some point. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a sophomore or junior in college and he’s one of the better players in his conference or in the country.” — Fenwick High head coach Staunton Peck
What Calipari says
“Bryce has the skill set and the versatility for where our game is going. It’s positionless, high-skilled basketball, and Bryce has both. He can play multiple positions and attack other players in different ways. His ability with the ball allows him to play on the perimeter, but he also has the size and the toughness to play at the basket. Bryce’s dream was to play on the biggest stage in college basketball. He will get to do that here at Kentucky.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 2:51 PM.
