Shaedon Sharpe, the number one prospect in the 2022 class according to ESPN and Rivals, has committed to the University of Kentucky, per his Twitter. Sharpe chose the Wildcats over Arizona, Oklahoma State, Kansas and the NBA G-League Ignite program.
The Dream City Christian standout has shot up the rankings over the last year since coaches have been allowed to see these players compete in-person. A year ago, Sharpe was listed as the 120th ranked prospect in his class on the 247Sports Composite but rose to the top of his level due to his play on the EYBL circuit with his travel team, Uplay Canada.
Listed at six-foot-five, 185 pounds, the shooting guard is an explosive dunker and puts the ball through the rim with authority. When Sharpe jumps, he glides at the rim and can punish opposing defense for giving him room to get up. He has easily repeatable shot mechanics and is not hesitant to pull up when creating space through his handle.
While he has an arsenal of tools to get his buckets, he will need to put on weight to become more effective at the collegiate level. Even with that fact, he is a surefire NBA talent with his current toolset.
Sharpe’s skyrocket in rankings could also be attributed to his AAU season from this year, during which he averaged 22.6 points a game on 47.9% shooting from the field and 36.4% from three. His electric play was over 12 games spanning from April to July of this year.
Sharpe committed after visiting both Arizona and Kentucky, the only two schools he made official visits to, as well as a late push from the G-League. His pledge to the Wildcats of Lexington marks the first time head coach John Calipari has landed the top player in the country since Nerlens Noel came to campus in 2012, per Jeff Goodman.
Kentucky now has two commitments for the 2022 class, the other being five-star point guard Skyy Clark of Monteverde Academy in Orlando, FL. They now hold the eighth-highest ranked class on the 247Sports team rankings, holding a team score of 53.44. They trail Indiana, Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas and Ohio State, respectively.
The Wildcats are seen as the current leaders in the recruitment for Dereck Lively II, Chris Livingston, Cason Wallace and Adam Bona. Should the school land all these recruits, they would finish with a team score of 70.98, marking the highest total in the 247Sports team rankings since the 2018 Duke recruiting class reached a mark of 71.06. Their class featured Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and others.
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