Kentucky Basketball Recruiting: UK interested in Ashton Hagans as a 2018 recruit

The Kentucky Wildcats may have a new target in the 2018 class.

You may recall how 2019 star Ashton Hagans recently decommitted from the Georgia Bulldogs, and he may now be moving into the 2018 class.

UK has shown interest in Hagans as a Class of 2019 recruit, but it’s been unclear as to whether they may want him as a 2018 recruit.

Well, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports UK is interested in Hagans for the 2018 class, and for good reason. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looking like a one and done, UK needs another guard for next year’s team, and Hagans may fit the bill.

In that same article, recruiting guru Evan Daniels talked about how Hagans, a sophomore Quade Green, and a freshman Immanuel Quickley could all coexist, even though they’re all five-star point guards.

“He can certainly play with those other guys,” Daniels said of Hagans. “I think Ashton is the type of guy that probably needs the ball in his hands a little bit more because of his lack of shooting. But he’s also a guy that you can throw out on the floor because of his ability to impact the game on the defensive end, in transition, and with his passing. If you put him next to a guy like Quade Green, who can really shoot, then you’ve got a really good tandem.”

We’ve already seen how well Green can operate as an off-ball guard, and the thought is Quickley will be able to do the same. If Hagans is willing to share the workload with those two, then it’s possible we could even see all three guards on the floor at once.

That is, if Hagans and UK are seriously considering each other. Hagans is already getting interest from North Carolina, Florida and Ohio State among others, so even if UK wants him, it won’t be easy.

For what it’s worth, Hagans just did a blog entry at USA Today, where he talked about his recruitment and said he’s staying in the 2019 class.

“Since I opened it back up the schools that have reached out the most are Florida State, Marquette, Ohio State, South Carolina, Florida, of course Georgia too. North Carolina has talked with my AAU coach, but not with us.

“I know there are a lot of rumors going around about where I might be going, but I can tell you that I have no idea about where I’m going. None of that stuff is true. I just ended my high school season and now I’m gonna look at things more closely. I’m gonna go on a few visits and go from there.

“The other thing is that people were saying that I’m reclassifying to 2018, but that’s not true. I’m staying 2019.”

UK has also shown interest in five-star guard Jalen Lecque, who is also a 2019 recruit that could move into the 2018 class.