UK sees high potential in Sharife Cooper, who wants to visit Lexington again

Sharife Cooper appears to be rising up Kentucky’s big board when it comes to the Class of 2020, and for good reason.

Rated the No. 2 point guard in 2020 by 247 Sports, Cooper led his team to a City of Palms championship victory on Saturday. He finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in their 68-47 win.

The 6-0, 160-pound guard is being heavily recruited by top programs across the country. He holds offers from a plethora of schools, including Kentucky, Auburn, UCLA, Tennessee, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Florida, Florida State, N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Clemson and Texas A&M.

Thus far in the 2020 class, the only true point guard prospects offered by Kentucky are Cooper and Jeremy Roach. However, Roach suffered a torn ACL recently and appears to be trending elsewhere. That could mean Cooper is moving to the top of Calipari’s big board when it comes to 2020 point guards.

Omar Cooper, his father and AAU coach, spoke with Adam Zagoria about Sharife’s plans for official visits after the championship game.

“He’s supposed to be trying to get to Arizona, UCLA, trying to get back out to Kentucky, Auburn, try to take one to Duke to see Duke. Supposed to be going back up to see Rutgers. He’s supposed to be going up to see Mississippi State as well. Right now, we don’t have any officials locked in.”

UK assistant Tony Barbee was in attendance for the championship game. Cooper visited Kentucky in September before his high school season began.

“When we went to Kentucky, they were adamant about the expectations of being a Kentucky Basketball player, what it comes with. Being ready when you get here, the ball being in his hands. The people who came before him. They see him with the John Walls. There was a picture on the wall of John Wall and Derrick Rose and Cal, and he could be the next point guard in this picture and stuff like that.”

Those comparisons are high praise from Coach Cal. He’s a little smaller than Rose or Wall, but he’s still young. He’s already an excellent shooter, and could add size to his frame as he continues to develop.

Most recruiting sites have Auburn listed as his top school, but it’s still extremely early in the process. We’ll get a better gauge on his college rankings as he takes his official visits. In his interview with Zagoria, Omar made sure to confirm that Sharife is far from making a decision.

If he does decide to head to Kentucky, Cooper would join a list of great point guards to come out of Kentucky in the last few years, such as De’Aaron Fox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Be sure to read the full interview.

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