UK basketball’s new recruit is ‘only’ ranked No. 76. That could be good.
Fast-break points from “the podium” of a virtual political convention:
21. Nolan Hickman. The class of 2021 point guard from Seattle gave Kentucky and John Calipari a surprise verbal commitment over the weekend.
20. Low on Rivals hype. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Hickman is “only” the No. 76-rated prospect in the Rivals 150.
19. Fourth-lowest-rated recruit. If Hickman’s standing in the Rivals 150 remains static, he will become the fourth-lowest-rated American-born high school recruit (in those rankings) signed by Kentucky in the John Calipari era.
18. Jemarl Baker. The California shooting guard, who was a late addition to Kentucky’s 2017 recruiting class, was rated No. 82 in the Rivals 150.
17. Derek Willis. An early UK commit in the class of 2013, the Bullitt East product was rated No. 115 in the Rivals 150.
16. Dominique Hawkins. A late UK commit in the class of 2013 after leading Madison Central to the state championship, Hawkins was not rated in the Rivals 150.
15. Rest of the story: Baker. Though he ultimately transferred to Arizona, Baker was clutch (eight points, two rebounds, a key steal) in Kentucky’s tight 2019 NCAA Tournament round of 32 win over Wofford.
14. Rest of the story: Willis. After playing sparingly early in his career, Willis averaged 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds over his final two seasons. His three-pointer with 1:01 left in overtime put UK ahead to stay in its 2016 SEC Tournament championship game win over Texas A&M.
13. Rest of the story: Hawkins. The 2013 Kentucky Mr. Basketball was a hero (13 points, UK’s final five points of the game) in the Wildcats’ two-point victory over archrival Louisville during his junior year (2015-16). As a senior, he was stellar (14 points in Kentucky’s SEC Tournament finals win over Arkansas; hit 12 of 17 shots and seven of 11 three-pointers in four NCAA Tournament games) during March Madness.
12. A hidden gem? It could be that Rivals is severely undervaluing Nolan Hickman. In the 24/7 Sports rankings of the class of 2021, the point guard is rated No. 30.
11. NCAA championship teams. The programs that have been winning NCAA titles in recent seasons — see Villanova, North Carolina, Villanova again and Virginia — have been built around veterans.
10. A value play? So if Nolan Hickman turned out to be a good, multi-year college guard, his worth to Kentucky could prove greater than if he blows up into yet another UK one-and-done.
9. Zion Harmon. For what it is worth, Rivals ranks in-state point guard Harmon, now at Marshall County, No. 54 in the class of 2021. The former Bowling Green and Adair County guard is committed to Western Kentucky.
8. Bryce Hopkins. The former Louisville commitment, a 6-6, 210-pound forward from Oak Park, Ill., is ranked No. 34 in the Rivals 150 for the class of 2021.
7. Red to Blue? With many projecting that Hopkins might soon make a recruiting pledge to Kentucky, that would add even more spark to a Cats-Cards rivalry rarely lacking in combustible elements.
6. A.W. Hamilton. When the Eastern Kentucky men’s basketball coach found out this summer that he had been diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma, he made the decision not to immediately share the news with his team.
5. Spare them worry. “I didn’t want to be a distraction and I didn’t want them to worry about me while they are trying to do everything they have to do with their academics and the COVID(-19) protocols and everything we have going on in our world right now,” Hamilton said last week.
4. The news was good. After Hamilton’s surgeon informed the coach that there were no signs his cancer has spread, “It took me, probably, a week before I really got back on my feet and I got in the office and got back around (the players),” the EKU head man says. “But I didn’t really get around them because I didn’t want them to worry about me.”
3. Bellarmine’s D-I debut. Coach Scott Davenport has unveiled quite a non-conference schedule for the Knights’ initial season as a NCAA Division I men’s basketball program this winter.
2. Running with the big dogs. Included on the Bellarmine slate are road games at college hoops powers UCLA (Nov. 10), Duke (Nov. 17) and Gonzaga (Dec. 21) plus a trip to Starkville to play SEC opponent Mississippi State (Nov. 30).
(Due to the coronavirus, the Pac-12 has said its schools cannot play sports before Jan. 1, 2021. For Bellarmine to play UCLA, that game will obviously have to be rescheduled.)
1. Something missing. Bellarmine is scheduled to play an exhibition against Kentucky State on Nov. 4, but one thing you will not find on the Knights’ first Division I men’s hoops schedule is a game against any of Kentucky’s seven other NCAA D-I programs.
Which is interesting.
