KU basketball is on list of No. 5-ranked prospect in 2020 recruiting class
Cade Cunningham, the No. 5-ranked player in the high school basketball Class of 2020 according to Rivals.com, lists Kansas as one of 10 schools he will consider during the recruiting process his senior year at Montverde Academy in Florida.
Cunningham, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound point guard/shooting guard originally from Arlington, Texas, on Thursday unveiled a list of 10 schools on Twitter. They are: Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, Memphis, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma State, Florida, Washington and Virginia.
“As for my position in college, I love running the point. I play it at Montverde and I play it for the Texas Titans and I feel like I’m at my best when I have the ball in my hands making plays for everyone,” Cunningham writes in his blog at USAtoday.com. “It’s not a deal breaker if the school wants to use me in a different way. I’m all about whatever makes me better. I definitely feel like I can play with another elite point guard. I think that would make the team even more dangerous. I just want to make plays wherever I’m playing. That’s most appealing to me.”
Wilson arrives for visit
Jalen Wilson, a 6-8 small forward out of Guyer High in Denton, Texas, started his official recruiting visit to KU on Thursday night. The visit will run through Saturday.
Wilson, who recently asked out of his national letter-of-intent at Michigan after coach John Beilein accepted the Cleveland Cavaliers head coaching job, will visit North Carolina on Monday. Wilson has yet to set up visits to Oklahoma State and Florida. Michigan also remains on his list of schools.
“Lawrence what’s good?? KU Official Visit Begins!!” Wilson wrote on Twitter on Thursday night.
Isaacs offered scholarship by KU
KU has offered a scholarship to Richard “Pop Pop” Isaacs, a 6-0 sophomore-to-be point guard from Coronado High in Las Vegas, Rivals.com reports. Others to offer at this early date: UNLV, California Oregon, Oklahoma, TCU, Oklahoma State, Rutgers and Mississippi.
He survived cuts at last week’s USA Basketball Under 16 national team tryouts in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Thus, he will compete for the U.S. team at the 2019 FIBA Americas U16 Championship, June 3-9 in Belém, Brazil.
“The main thing that I was doing was leading my team to wins in scrimmages (during trials). I feel like I’m doing well and that I’m doing what the coaches want me to do,” Isaacs told Rivals.com.
“I’ve scored but I’ve showed that I can pass too. I can do other things when my shot isn’t falling. I can get into the paint and find my teammates.”
Of KU, he told Rivals.com: “The way the Kansas offer came was great. I was kind of bummed because we had just lost to Bishop Gorman on a game-winner and Gorman went on to Geico Nationals. So getting an offer then cheered me up because we lost at the buzzer. It’s Kansas. It’s the first blueblood to offer me, so that caught my attention.”
Wichita sophomore on KU radar
Gradey Dick, a 6-5 sophomore-to-be guard from Wichita Collegiate High School, fared well at the USA Basketball U16 National Team tryouts. He survived the first round of cuts.
“I feel like I did pretty well,” Dick told Eric Bossi of Rivals.com. “I I just got my shots up and the main thing they (coaches) were telling me was to stay confident in my game and just perform and let it all take care of itself. I felt very blessed and thankful.”
Dick is being recruited by KU, Kansas State, Wichita State, Stanford, Colorado, Tulane, Iowa State and others.
His mom played at Iowa State in the 1980s.
“My mom is more of a post player,” Dick told Rivals.com. “Throughout the years I’ve been a shooter but I have an advantage because my mom teaches me post moves a lot. If I don’t shoot I can take it to the rim and use what I’ve learned from her.”
Hampton kept month-long secret
R.J. Hampton, a 6-5 point guard who recently graduated from Little Elm (Texas) High School, told Bleacher Report he signed his professional contract with the New Zealand Breakers about a month ago.
What that means is coaches from his three finalists — Kansas, Memphis and Texas Tech — for the last four weeks were actively pursuing somebody who had no intention of playing college basketball in 2019-20.
He revealed his decision to play for the Breakers on Monday on ESPN.
“The moment I knew I was not going to play college basketball and go overseas, was probably like a month ago when we made the decision and signed the contract,” Hampton, who was ranked No. 6 in the recruiting Class of 2019.
“I didn’t tell anyone. When I couldn’t tell anybody, people are always speculating. Some people would say it to my face, like, ‘Are you thinking about going overseas?’ I’d be like, ‘I’ve just got my top three, Kansas, Memphis and Tech.’ We settled on New Zealand based on the fact the ownership of the team is made up of ex-NBA guys and they’re really trying to help me get to the next level, which is the NBA. And it’s beautiful. Who wouldn’t want to go there?”
He said his “dream is to go to New Zealand, play five months and then go to the NBA. Then start my NBA career and hopefully have a long NBA career.”
TV and radio analyst Doug Gottlieb blasted Hampton for his secrecy on Twitter.
“RJ Hampton agreeing to sign in New Zealand a month ago and only telling colleges this week is about as classless as they come. I blame his parents. Call the coaches, tell them your decision. They all would have wished him well and moved on. What a (bleep) maneuver,” Gottlieb wrote.”
Bloomberg reports that Hampton will join the Breakers as part of the local National Basketball League’s Next Stars Program. The standard contract is $100,000 but team part-owner Matt Walsh said Hampton would “far surpass that.”
Bloomberg says because Hampton signed a two-year deal, the Breakers will eligible to receive an $800,000 buyout from any NBA team that selects Hampton in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft.
This story was originally published May 31, 2019 at 8:02 AM with the headline "KU basketball is on list of No. 5-ranked prospect in 2020 recruiting class."