James Wiseman sets decision date

UPDATE

Evan Daniels has changed his pick to Memphis for James Wiseman, so it looks like there won’t be much suspense Tuesday.

The end is near for the recruitment of No. 1 prospect James Wiseman.

The five-star center has set his decision date:

Wiseman, a 6-11 big man, is essentially down to the Memphis Tigers and Kentucky Wildcats. though the Vanderbilt Commodores, Kansas Jayhawks and Florida State Seminoles will still have hats on the table.

Still, this is widely believed to be a showdown between John Calipari and Penny Hardaway, who have already butted heads on the 2019 recruiting trail with Kentucky decommit DJ Jeffries, who has since committed to Memphis.

With the decision looming, Memphis leads in Wiseman’s crystal ball, holding ²⁄₃ of the predictions. National expert Evan Daniels has made his prediction for Kentucky, though.

The Memphis native has a history that contains great relevance to his recruitment, and it’s been well documented. Wiseman is from Memphis and attends high school at Memphis East. Hardaway coached him in high school and in AAU basketball.

Wiseman made his visit to Kentucky on Sep. 7.

Wiseman has been widely-regarded as the No. 1 player in the class for some time now, and for good reason. He’s a talented center that has enough versatility to play the five like a modern big man.

Wiseman has gotten more attention from Kentucky than any other big man in the 2019 class, but he’s no longer the team’s only option at that spot.

Vernon Carey and Isaiah Stewart are still on the board and not expected to sign until the spring. Either one could be a dominant center in college. Kentucky is also in the running for several forwards in Matthew Hurt and Jaden McDaniels. All of these guys are top-10 prospects, and Carey is actually ranked No. 1 overall by Rivals (ESPN and 247 have Wiseman No. 1).

In the end, it’s not looking good for Kentucky being the pick on Tuesday, but stranger things have happened, and you can never count out John Calipari.