Lexington, Ky. — The nation’s top recruit, James Wiseman, committed to Memphis Tuesday afternoon over Kentucky.
2019 top overall recruit James Wiseman chooses Memphis over Kentucky. Not surprising. He’s from Memphis and has played for Penny Hardaway
— Eli Gehn (@EliGehnLEX18) November 20, 2018
This may not seem like a big surprise to many, as Wiseman will play for first year Memphis Head Coach Penny Hardaway, who he also played for his junior year of high school where they went on to win a state championship.
“I’ve said it all along, is that I’m overrated as a recruiter,” said head coach John Calipari Tuesday after Wiseman’s announcement was made. “We’ve had kids that made the decision to come here and its played out well for almost all of them. My thing is, I want to be able to sleep at night. I want to make sure that I’m telling the truth, I want to make sure that I’m sticking with guys. We don’t get every kid. We get the ones we are supposed to get, it just plays out that way and it always has.”
Wiseman is originally from Nashville, so factoring in those two things, the head coach and the location, it was going to be tough for Head Coach John Calipari to bring Wiseman to UK.
This is the second big man Calipari and UK have lost out on in recent months. DJ Jefferies decommitted from UK back in July, and will also be going to Memphis.
Wiseman is a 7’0″ five-star center who is guaranteed to be a one-an-done talent. As of right now, he’s projected to be a lottery pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
