In what feels like forever, Kentucky has finally landed an elite of the elite prospect. Not a second tier elite guy, but someone who is without question top-3 in the class no matter which way you want to look at it.
Shaedon Sharpe busted onto the BBN scene when he received an offer back in December of 2020. There was a lot of “meh, he’s ranked in the 90’s” and “who is that?” reactions from the majority of the fan base. His late meteoric rise was by design, and his trajectory went exactly the same as how Jamal Murray’s went.
Dwayne Washington of UPlay is a player development genius and THE guy in Canadian grassroots basketball. He likes to keep players hidden out of the spotlight until the time is completely right. Washington’s trust factor with the top people in basketball doesn’t come without having shown that he knows his stuff in the past. He has Jamal Murray, RJ Barrett, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to his name, plus many more.
Because of this trust, John Calipari offered Shaedon before ever seeing him play, something Kentucky fans know that Cal NEVER does.
The night of the offer, I called Dwayne and you could just tell by his tone that Kentucky was in a PHENOMENAL spot. Now, Dwayne plays things close to the vest and likes to keep suspense, so that’s why he never openly talked about just how interested Kentucky was in any media opportunity.
Shaedon really caught the eye of Kentucky fans during his first semi-local event in Indianapolis at our MADE Hoops Midwest Mania. His display of three-level shot making and instance athleticism left everyone who had seen him for the first time picking their jaw up off of the floor.
On the first day of the event, his UPlay team was practicing a few hours before their first game. He walked over by me and we chopped it up for a few minutes about different things, then I brought up his recruitment. He told me that Kentucky was the school recruiting him the hardest by far and that he was dealing with Coach Cal directly, not any assistants. When we were talking, I knew Kentucky was way ahead of the pack. Cal took the reigns on this one and made sure it was taken care of. Of course, assistants from both the old and new staffs helped out, but when Cal focuses on a guy himself, he’s getting them 99 times out of 100.
I put a pick in for Shaedon to UK back in May, but I honestly felt like he was going to be a ‘Cat from the moment they offered. He was telling Kentucky recruits behind the scenes that he was going to UK since the winter.
I’ll be completely honest, this one has been over way before today. There was a ton of buzz about a silent commitment for the last month or so, and I think Kentucky has had this one in the bag since June or July. Some folks around the Kentucky program were already talking as if he was in the fold a couple of months ago. Any other school/route was manufactured drama and any list cuts were window dressing. This was the most clean-cut recruitment for an elite guy going in Kentucky’s favor in quite some time.
Shaedon Sharpe busted onto the BBN scene when he received an offer back in December of 2020. There was a lot of “meh, he’s ranked in the 90’s” and “who is that?” reactions from the majority of the fan base. His late meteoric rise was by design, and his trajectory went exactly the same as how Jamal Murray’s went.
Dwayne Washington of UPlay is a player development genius and THE guy in Canadian grassroots basketball. He likes to keep players hidden out of the spotlight until the time is completely right. Washington’s trust factor with the top people in basketball doesn’t come without having shown that he knows his stuff in the past. He has Jamal Murray, RJ Barrett, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to his name, plus many more.
Because of this trust, John Calipari offered Shaedon before ever seeing him play, something Kentucky fans know that Cal NEVER does.
The night of the offer, I called Dwayne and you could just tell by his tone that Kentucky was in a PHENOMENAL spot. Now, Dwayne plays things close to the vest and likes to keep suspense, so that’s why he never openly talked about just how interested Kentucky was in any media opportunity.
Shaedon really caught the eye of Kentucky fans during his first semi-local event in Indianapolis at our MADE Hoops Midwest Mania. His display of three-level shot making and instance athleticism left everyone who had seen him for the first time picking their jaw up off of the floor.
On the first day of the event, his UPlay team was practicing a few hours before their first game. He walked over by me and we chopped it up for a few minutes about different things, then I brought up his recruitment. He told me that Kentucky was the school recruiting him the hardest by far and that he was dealing with Coach Cal directly, not any assistants. When we were talking, I knew Kentucky was way ahead of the pack. Cal took the reigns on this one and made sure it was taken care of. Of course, assistants from both the old and new staffs helped out, but when Cal focuses on a guy himself, he’s getting them 99 times out of 100.
I put a pick in for Shaedon to UK back in May, but I honestly felt like he was going to be a ‘Cat from the moment they offered. He was telling Kentucky recruits behind the scenes that he was going to UK since the winter.
I’ll be completely honest, this one has been over way before today. There was a ton of buzz about a silent commitment for the last month or so, and I think Kentucky has had this one in the bag since June or July. Some folks around the Kentucky program were already talking as if he was in the fold a couple of months ago. Any other school/route was manufactured drama and any list cuts were window dressing. This was the most clean-cut recruitment for an elite guy going in Kentucky’s favor in quite some time.
