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The NBA G-League is becoming a major threat to pry elite high school recruits away from college basketball, and that will continue in the 2021 class.
We now know one UK target who will be part of these efforts, as five-star guard Kennedy Chandler in the among the 2021 recruits being courted by the G-League, according to Jake Weingarten.
Source: The G-League has now prioritized the pursuit of several top-rated 2021 prospects. Rod Strickland spoke with the parents of five-star guard Kennedy Chandler three weeks ago, just discussions, nothing serious as of yet.
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) April 16, 2020
Earlier today, 2020 recruit Jalen Green announced he was taking an offer from the G-League and skipping college.
Chandler, who is hosting John Calipari for a virtual visit today, is a top-10 recruit who also holds offers from Duke, North Carolina and Kansas among others. That kind of offer sheet speaks to how big of a recruit he is and why he makes sense as a G-League target now.
While no other names have been mentioned, other major 2021 recruits UK is targeting include five-star forward Jon Kuminga, five-star forward Paolo Banchero, five-star guard Jaden Bradley, five-star forward Patrick Baldwin, and five-star center Moussa Cisse, all of whom are top-10 recruits in Rivals’ most recent rankings.
In fact, Kuminga and Cisse have been mentioned as possible reclassification options, so perhaps they could be candidates to sign with the G-League and be in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Earlier this week, 2020 UK signee Terrence Clarke turned down an offer from the G-League. While UK may be able to keep all of its 2020 recruits away from the G-League, it’s clear that doing the same again in 2021 will prove to be a major hurdle.