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After weeks of feeling that swaying five-star forward Jaden McDaniels from his home-state Washington Huskies was impossible, it’s now the Kentucky Wildcats who appear to be the favorite for 2019’s top-rated power forward.
According to 247’s crystal ball for McDaniels, who’s listed as the 13th-best prospect in 2019, Kentucky has an 85% chance to be his choice with both Washington and San Diego State coming in at 8%.
With many expecting McDaniels to chose Kentucky, now the question is when.
On Friday it seemed that the decision could be coming May 15th after a report came out from Scorebook live, but McDaniels’ trainer was quick to shoot that down in a tweet sent out shortly after the Scorebook article.
There’s no commitment date, don’t believe what you read on this app, that’s all folks have a great day
— Cartiea French-Toney (@MrYeahIKnow) May 10, 2019
To find out information one fan asked 247’s Evan Daniels as part of his #AskEvan article when he expects the five-star forward to commit.
Here’s what Daniels had to say:
“Five-star forward Jaden McDaniels has yet to announce to a decision date, but I expect it to come in the very near future. By that I mean in the coming days.”
May 15th is the final day for high school recruits to sign a national letter of intent, so it makes sense for a decision to come in the next few days prior to the deadline.
However, all is up in the air, and the Big Blue Nation will have to remain on hold to find out whether or not they will indeed add one of the nation’s top players to what is already the top-rated recruiting class in the country.
But don’t assume the Huskies are out of this race. In an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader, Rivals recruiting guru Corey Evans is sticking with his Washington prediction for now, though he does admit Kentucky has made up a lot of ground, but neither side is confident in landing the top-10 recruit.
“This is definitely a battle between Kentucky and Washington,” Evans told the Herald-Leader. “I know a lot of people have gone toward the direction of Kentucky, but I don’t think anyone really knows still. Kentucky did gain a lot of ground — I do know that for sure. I think it’s kind of a back-and-forth battle in his camp, between Kentucky and Washington. I don’t think either side feels great. But I don’t think either side feels like they’re going to lose it.”
In that same interview, Evan Daniels reiterated his belief that Kentucky is in the best shape right now. If that’s true, than Kentucky should be rooting for a decision sooner rather than later.