Published Nov 20, 2018
What's the impact of James Wiseman's decision?
Eric Bossi and Corey Evans
Rivals.com National Basketball Analysts
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The No. 2 player in the class of 2019, seven-footer James Wiseman ended all of the speculation and guessing on Tuesday.

The senior at Memphis (Tenn.) East announced that he will remain in Memphis to play for his former high school and summer coach Penny Hardaway.

"After a long and thoughtful consideration I will be attending the University of Memphis," said Wiseman.

So, what's the impact of Wiseman's decision on the Tigers and those that missed on him.

WISEMAN'S IMPACT AT MEMPHIS/KENTUCKY

Landing Wiseman is the culmination of everything that Memphis had hoped would happen on the recruiting trail when they hired Penny Hardaway.

He's the elite, local player that the fanbase has been clamoring for and he's somebody that others want to play with. Wiseman is athletic, he has all of the size that you could want and he's proving that he can score at and away from the hoop and he's adding strength. With the added strength he's gotten more physical and he's become a much better presence as a rim protector.

As much as anything, though, landing Wiseman is a clear message that Memphis going to be a legitimate contender for more elite talent as they move forward.

Adding Wiseman to a class that already includes four-star swingman D.J. Jeffries and Rivals150 big man Malcolm Dandridge gives the Tigers a top 10 class nationally.

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STING FACTOR

While the Tigers are celebrating, his four other finalists are forced to move on and regroup. How hard does Wiseman's pledge to Memphis sting Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky and Vanderbilt?

FLORIDA STATE

Sting factor: 2

The Seminoles would have loved to sign the Wiseman but they will move on to their next targets in the frontcourt. The thought in recent months was that this was a battle between Kentucky and Memphis and that remained the case until his commitment today. Had Wiseman committed to Florida State, it would have been Leonard Hamilton’s greatest win on the recruiting trail. Instead, not much is lost as the Seminoles didn’t invest a whole lot of time on him and realistically, didn’t think they had a great shot at him anyways.

KANSAS

Sting factor: 4

Kansas hasn’t had the best of times this fall when it comes to securing its top frontcourt targets. How fitting would it have been, though, if the Jayhawks swept in at the last possible second and landed Wiseman, much like Villanova did a few weeks ago with Jeremiah Robinson-Earl? That ended up not being the case as the Jayhawks will have to regroup again and figure out how to fill their roster holes at the end of the season. Bill Self always has a response, so there's no reason for Kansas fans to get worked up over this miss. Kansas has loads of talent up and down its roster and remain in a good spot with five-star Matthew Hurt. Better yet, if the Jayhawks can land Zeke Nnaji on Friday, the Wiseman miss will be like it never happened at all.

KENTUCKY

Sting factor: 10

This is a difficult loss for John Calipari as he missed on his top target in the 2019 class. Wiseman was the type of big that Calipari had become accustomed to featuring during his more successful years in Lexington, a 7-footer that could extend the floor, score in the post and next eventually sit in the green room at the NBA Draft. Instead, the Wildcats need to regroup fast as they don’t sit in the driver’s seat for any of their frontcourt targets - Vernon Carey, Isaiah Stewart or Jaden McDaniels - and may need to fill three positions along its frontline. It's back to the drawing board for Kentucky.

VANDERBILT

Sting factor: 2

Bryce Drew put together arguably the greatest class in program history last year and is seeing such talents flourish in the early going this season. What better way for Drew to follow up the 2018 class with the commitment of Wiseman? The five-star's decision doesn't sting the Commodores much because there was never much of a chance that the 7-footer would pick Vanderbilt. It was a major shot in the dark but the what-could-have-been could linger for a few weeks for Drew and his staff.