NORCROSS, Ga. – It’s easy to forget Kayden Allen is yet to play his first game of high school basketball. At 6-foot-5, 185 pounds, the freshman guard has the look of a much older prospect. He’s also starting to have the recruitment of one. Georgia has already made things official with a scholarship offer and a handful of other major programs are also watching him closely.
Rivals.com recently caught up with Allen, who took the floor at the Double Trouble Academy event outside of Atlanta over the weekend, to discuss his development and where his recruitment might be headed in the future.
ON WHICH UGA COACH IS RECRUITING HIM
“It’s Coach [Antonio Reynolds]-Dean. He had been watching me and then was at my summer workouts. They offered me after all that.”
ON UGA
“I don’t know a lot about them, really. Not yet, anyway. I know I want to take an unofficial to campus and check it out. It’s nice to know that it’s home, and home is always going to be an option for me.”
ON THE EARLY NATURE OF HIS UGA OFFER
“It’s something you could brag about, you know? Getting a Georgia offer so early, but I’m going to use it as motivation instead. It motivates me to keep on doing what I’m doing and get more offers.”
ON OTHER SCHOOLS THAT HAVE SHOWN INTEREST
“I know Georgetown is looking and a few others, too.”
ON HIS GAME
“I’m a lanky guard – a pure scorer. I’m a great on-ball defender that can knock down open shots. Ican play combo, but I play the two mostly, but I can facilitate when I’m not scoring.”
ON OFFERS HE HOPES TO GET DOWN THE ROAD
“Virginia for sure. That’s where I'm from originally. I moved to Georgia when I was, like five. I like the coaches up at Virginia. I like the way he uses his shooters. My favorite year was the year with Ty Jerome so I just really hope they offer one day.”
RIVALS REACTION: It is much too early to even begin to speculate about the direction of Allen’s recruitment. He appears to have the upside of a major prospect and looked smooth handling the ball in drills over the weekend. UGA represents his first major offer but is unlikely to be his last, as Allen has the length and the shooting stroke to play his way onto the radars of various high-major programs in the year ahead.