UK recruit Jaden Hardy drops 62 points

It never hurts to look ahead to recruiting classes that are coming up down the line, especially when you’re a program like Kentucky.

It bodes well for top coaches to get on the radars of elite targets early on, and John Calipari seems to have found a good one in the 2021 class with Jaden Hardy.

Hardy, a 6-4 combo guard out of Nevada, is a top-10 recruit in his class who is only trending upwards. In his most recent game, he again proved what an elite prospect he is.

Hardy scored 62 points to lead his team back from down 21 points to an overtime win. He filled up the box score as well with 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks. That is a truly incredible stat-line for a dynamic player that’s going to make a college coach very happy in the near future.

Calipari offered Hardy back in September and he had planned to attend Big Blue Madness, but he missed, just like multiple other top prospects, because of Team USA’s training camp happening that weekend. Hardy was able to catch the Wildcats during their trip to Vegas, though, as they practiced at his high school during their trip.

Rival’s Corey Evans recently told the Herald-Leader that he thought Kentucky was the early leader for Hardy.

“I think he really likes Kentucky, and I think Kentucky offering him so early in the process (was important). That ‘2’ guard class is not a great one in 2021, and Cal and those guys have prioritized him and pinpointed him as the guy. I think it’s Kentucky and then everyone else for him right now,” said Evans.

With this incredible performance and the interest from both sides, it’s enough to make a Kentucky fan’s mouth water. Kentucky would likely need to replenish their guard spot after next season as well with a lot of Kentucky’s commits in 2020 being guards with pro aspirations.

There’s a lot of time left in his recruitment and Kentucky isn’t the only team who wants him, but a perfect storm could be coming that would get Hardy to Lexington.

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