Hunter Sallis still wants to visit Kentucky

Hunter Sallis is a five-star guard in the 2021 basketball recruiting class. He’s the No. 1 point guard in the class and he is an explosive player that can get his own shot and facilitate for others.

The Herald Leader sat down with Millard (NE) North head coach Tim Cannon to talk about the growth of Sallis, starting with a 6-foot frame to where he is now.

“And now he’s 6-5 and less skinny,” Cannon said with a chuckle before listing off all the ways his senior star has improved over the past few years. The growth spurt certainly helped Sallis’ evolution on the court — those guard skills he developed as a smaller player look even better with his 6-5 frame, and he has filled out since his freshman days — but the five-star recruit also never stopped working to get better.”

“I’m in my 42nd year of high school coaching, and I’ve never seen a player improve every year in high school as consistently, and that’s including right now,” Cannon told the Herald-Leader. “His scoring average is about the same as last year, but he’s way better in every other area right now.”

Sallis is averaging around 22 ppg through his first seven games of the season. Millard North has won every one of those games. He’s shooting around 60% from the field and has garnered interest from all of the blue bloods.

Right now, the Gonzaga Bulldogs, Kentucky Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels seem to have the most interest from Sallis, but he still has offers from Louisville, Indiana, Creighton, Kansas, Michigan and more.

The Cats should be stacked at the point guard position next season, with freshman Devin Askew looking like a multi-year college player and instant-impact recruit Nolan Hickman already signed for the 2021 class. UK also has an early commitment for class of 2022 point guard Skyy Clark, who is still considering a reclassification to 2021.

It seems like the possibilities for 2021 are endless, and full of floor generals that can also play off the ball, which is something we’ve seen Cal thrive with in the past.

The expectation was for Sallis to have already picked his school, but with everything going on, the decision has been delayed. As it stands, Gonzaga seems to have an edge, but no expert has locked it down as a done deal yet.

The dead period began before the scholarship offers came from North Carolina and Kentucky, two schools Sallis really wants to visit.

“It does mean a lot to him,” Cannon said. “He has talked a lot — and his parents have talked a lot — about wanting to be able to make official visits.”

The recruiting dead period is set to expire April 15, though the NCAA has extended it several times since the pandemic began. If it’s extended again, Sallis will almost certainly have to make his college decision without getting to take any more official visits.

A similar situation happened with Kentucky commit Bryce Hopkins. Hopkins and his family took matters into their own hands and decided to drive down to Lexington and visit themselves. No basketball coaches or staff were allowed to talk to him, but he got a good enough idea of the campus to commit.

It will be interesting to see how Sallis’ recruitment plays out. Hopefully the Cats are able to get him down to Lexington, or he just visits himself, soon.