Kentucky Wildcats freshman Shaedon Sharpe is not expected to play college basketball this season, according to his head coach John Calipari.
Sharpe, an 18-year-old from Canada, is one of the top prospects in the NCAA. The 6-foot-6 guard was graded as a five-star recruit and widely considered the top player in his recruiting class before reclassifying to forego the remainder of his senior year of high school.
The highly-touted prospect arrived on Kentucky’s campus in January but he has not yet played a game for the Wildcats. Kentucky, who currently ranks third in KenPom ratings with a top-five offense in the nation, is in a good place for a tournament run with or without Sharpe.
After talking with Shaedon and his parents, we want to end all of the speculation by again saying that he will not play for us this season.
He is committed to bettering himself and our team in practice this year and being better prepared to lead us next season.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) February 7, 2022
Although reporting suggests Sharpe could have declared for the 2022 NBA draft, Kentucky’s Calipari’s tweeted that the developing prospect would use another year focused on “bettering himself and our team” before turning pro.
Sharpe averaged 22.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 36.1% on 3-pointers on the Nike EYBL circuit in 2021, per Cerebro Sports.
He added 18.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game when competing in The Grind Session. Sharpe was also an excellent contributor for Canada when he participated in FIBA youth tournaments.
We graded Sharpe as one of the top prospects on our most recent big board for the 2022 NBA draft. As of right now, Sharpe is unlikely to appear on the next update of our big board.
Of course, he could always change his mind and decide to test the waters. It never hurts to learn what interest professional teams have in his services and he could be convinced to turn pro despite recent comments from Calipari.
However, Calipari’s tweet does lead us to believe Sharpe is more likely to serve as the focal point of Kentucky’s offense next season. So, until further notice, we’ll have to assume he fits the bill for the 2023 NBA draft — where he would join the likes of Scoot Henderson and Victor Wembanyama.
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