Wednesday's Leftovers: Duke, Kentucky, Adama Sonogo
A loaded bag of questions is on the docket in this week’s Wednesday’s Leftovers. Is Duke set for another nationally recognized class in 2021? How might Kentucky fill its center need? Is Adama Sanogo the next to reclassify? How does Providence complete its roster for next season? We do our best to answer as the offseason nears.
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2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position
2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position
2022 Rankings: Top 75
Duke already sits with the commitment of top-10 wing AJ Griffin and it would come as a major upset if the Blue Devils didn’t finish with another top-two class in 2021.
How that plays out remains up for debate but the likeliest to join Griffin next is Patrick Baldwin. Others including Michigan State, Milwaukee, a program that his father oversees, Northwestern, a place that both of his parents attended, and North Carolina are also in the mix but Duke is the team to beat.
Could fellow Midwesterner Max Christie join him? The Blue Devils have laid the proper foundation with the five-star guard but so, too, has Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue and Villanova. If Baldwin and Christie were to attend college together, though, in which they share a similar list of schools, it would be at Duke.
Kennedy Chandler has been a heavily talked about Duke commit this winter, but I have begun to sour on the idea. Not that the Blue Devils won’t have a say in the end, but rather Jeremy Roach is not a definite one-and-done guy and the competition for him is fierce with Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan and Tennessee sitting within their way.
Trevor Keels is a possibility and his strong connection with the aforementioned Roach will help. Charles Bediako holds a Duke offer and could potentially reclassify into the 2020 class after the summer, though Michigan State is in a good spot. Jon Kuminga could favor the Blue Devils if he stays in the 2021 class but him ultimately landing in Durham is far from likely. Lastly, Paolo Banchero has already visited Duke and remains a fan of the program, though his recruitment has some playing out to do with Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington, amongst others, also remaining in contention.
We will see how things play out in the coming weeks, but I do expect for Kentucky to be active again this spring. The Wildcats will no longer surprise anyone if they were to broach the transfer waters this offseason. Two years ago, John Calipari landed Stanford grad-transfer Reid Travis and last year, it was Bucknell’s Nate Sestina.
Neither played to preseason expectations, but they did fill a role as energy givers that brought loads of experience to a rather young roster. UK has struggled in winning some of the more pressure packed recruiting battles for centers over the past two years and with Nick Richards set to enter the NBA Draft in June, and no one waiting in the wings to fill such a hole, unless they land and then reclassify Moussa Cisse, the Wildcats will try to land a transfer big man.
Most of the talk surrounding Adama Sanogo has centered around Seton Hall and UConn thanks to just how much time and energy each staff has invested into recruiting him. However, there is still more that must play out before Sanogo comes to committing.
The top-50 junior has seen his stock take off in recent months and for good reason. No longer is he just a blue-collared post but rather someone that has thrown some skill into his game. Maryland just offered over the weekend, while Pitt, Nebraska and Xavier are three others to monitor. Oklahoma State has also jumped into the mix and with there being a fair chance that he reclassifies and enrolls in the 2020 class this summer, expect for the field for Sanogo to expand before it condenses.
Success never hurts so its recent string of wins should only enhance all that Ed Cooley and his staff will have to pitch to those they are recruiting.
In the fall, they hosted three-star guard Noah Farrakhan for a visit and while his recruitment has been silent this winter, he did just visit Penn State last week. Farrakhan could be an option, but the route they could take is via the grad-transfer realm which they did just last year with Luwane Pipkins. It should not be forgotten, though, that St. Joe’s transfer Jared Bynum is sitting out and will be a major contributor next season
In the frontcourt, the Friars could revisit things with Josh Gray, a three-star center they have recruited for over a year now, and, just like with its guard outlook, might take a stab with the transfer world. Whispers continue to circulate around PC sitting as a legitimate landing spot for both Makhel and Makhi Mitchell, but sit-out transfer Noah Horchler, who is already on campus, should also fill the void that will be left by Kalif Young and Emmitt Holt after the season.
Josh Primo attracted a plethora of talk last month thanks to his tremendous play at the Basketball Without Borders Global Camp over All-Star Weekend in Chicago, and his decision to reclassify into the 2020 class just a few days later. A commitment is next with the two schools most connected with him are Alabama and Creighton.
Both dispatched coaches to one of his games last week but the Tide, a school that boasts the commitment of fellow Canadian forward Keon Ambrose-Hylton, could be the team to beat. Expect for a decision in the coming weeks with Alabama sitting in the best spot.