On Saturday, 2020 five-star recruit, RJ Hampton cut his
choice of schools to four with this tweet.
In a blog post on USA Today, Hampton goes on to say, “I’m officially down to four; in no order I’m down to Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Memphis”. The 24/7 Sports crystal ball predictions have Duke pegged as the leader at 50% followed by Kansas at 25%, Memphis at 12%, and Kentucky at 12%.
Hampton, a 6-foot-4 170-pound, combo guard is considered a top
5 player in the 2020 class and is rumored to be considering a jump to this year’s
class, which would make him eligible to play this upcoming season. In his blog
post, Hampton confirmed the rumors saying, “I’m considering reclassifying to
2019 at this point”.
If Hampton does choose to reclassify, his recruitment becomes much clearer. Yesterday, Duke guard Tre Jones announced he is returning for a sophomore season. This really hurts Duke chances as Hampton told insider Adam Zagoria, “if Tre leaves, that is something I would look into”. Kentucky will also have a lot of depth at the guard and wing positions next season. That leaves Kansas and Memphis, and with the FBI scandal surrounding the Jayhawks, playing in Memphis with James Wiseman and an all-NBA coaching staff is an appealing option.
With that being said, Hampton went to say that he is fine
with playing other roles at times and is attracted to the idea of playing with
another elite point guard, like Kentucky commit Tyrese Maxey ?♂️
“A lot of people think I just want to run the point and that’s it, and I do want to do that too, but if the coach needs me to play off the ball sometimes and guard the two or the three at times, I’m fine with that too. I actually think playing with another elite point guard is a more attractive option because either one of us can bring it down and I can do what I do best and score the ball”
Hampton had some praise for the Cats as he went on to talk about the player-first mentality of John Calipari.
“What I like about Kentucky is that Coach (John) Calipari is really focused on putting players in position to be successful and reach their dreams and goals and that’s how he’s able to win”
I would love to see RJ Hampton in a Kentucky uniform, as he has the potential to be one of the best offensive players in the Calipari era.
Scouting Report: Hampton is an offensive minded guard with good size. Hampton is a great shooter off the catch and dribble, and can keep defenders guessing with great handles and dribble-drive ability. Hampton tends to make the right basketball play with a natural instinct for the game. At 170 pounds, Hampton does have a thin frame that limits his rebounding and defensive ability. Hampton draws comparisons to former Wildcat, Jamal Murray.
(USA Today)
Related