Update on Jaden McDaniels’ impending decision

Five-star power forward Jaden McDaniels is nearing the end of his recruitment.

According to Adam Zagoria, McDaniels will meet with his high school coach this week to discuss plans for making a college commitment.

It’s been a back-and-forth affair between the Kentucky Wildcats and Washington Huskies for McDaniels, though it’s been the hometown Huskies who’ve been viewed as the favorite for much of this recruitment

After visiting Lexington back last November and scoring a scholarship offer, the relationship between Kentucky’s coaching staff and McDaniels has continued to grow stronger. Kentucky wasn’t really recruiting McDaniels leading into the 2018 summer.

But the interest between both sides picked up in the fall, and Kentucky has made this a close battle leading into his decision.

It certainly helps that Kentucky was once McDaniels’ dream school, though he later backtracked on that.

The belief has long been that this was a Kentucky vs. Washington battle for the Seattle native. Kentucky had seemingly jumped into the lead over the last month, but with the decision nearing, Washington has gone back to being the favorite.

Landing McDaniels would bolster what should already be an outstanding frontcourt, featuring five-star recruits Kahlil Whitney and Keion Brooks and hopefully returning bigs Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery, who both declared for the NBA Draft to see where they stand.

McDaniels would be a great fit for the kind of small-ball lineups John Calipari wants to use going forward. The 6-10 freakish athlete plays more like a wing, but with his size and athleticism, he could play the 4 in small-ball lineups.

The fact that McDaniels is still waiting to make a decision makes me think he’s waiting to see how the NBA Draft decisions play out. Between Montgomery and Virginia Tech grad transfer Kerry Blackshear — who Kentucky is in good shape for if he returns to school — there’s still some major roster questions that may not be answered until the May 29th deadline to withdraw from the draft.

Then there’s the Michigan job opening. McDaniels’ cousin, Juwan Howard, is in the mix for the job and will meet with the school on Tuesday. If Howard were to get the job, you have to think McDaniels would at least entertain the thought of playing with his cousin in Ann Arbor.

Who do you think McDaniels will ultimately commit to?

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