Top Kentucky basketball recruiting links: Will Shaedon Sharpe enroll early at UK?

A 247Sports report Wednesday night raised the possibility that Kentucky basketball commitment Shaedon Sharpe — the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class — might enroll at UK early and join the team for the upcoming 2021-22 season.

Will it happen? We’ll see. 247Sports analyst Travis Branham reported that Sharpe is “strongly considering” joining Kentucky’s team at the semester break, though the report noted that the plan would be for Sharpe to take advantage of UK’s strength and conditioning program and the opportunity to practice against college players for a semester, not actually play for the Wildcats this season. So, he would be joining the program as basically a “practice player,” much like Hamidou Diallo did a few years ago.

Diallo explored the 2017 NBA Draft after his first semester at UK as a practice player, but he ultimately decided to stay in Lexington and play a full season. He had the NBA option because he had actually graduated from high school in May 2016 — one year before the 2017 Draft — and would have played the 2016-17 season as a post-grad player before deciding to enroll early at UK instead.

While Sharpe would meet the age requirement for next year’s NBA Draft — he’ll turn 19 in May — there’s been no sign that he’s actually graduated from high school already, so it doesn’t appear that he would fully meet the league’s requirements for draft eligibility in 2022. (League rules say at least one NBA season must have elapsed since a player’s graduation from high school for them to be draft eligible, in addition to the age-19 requirement). And even though Sharpe is originally from Canada, he would not be viewed as an “international” player under the NBA’s definition of the term.

So, unless he’s already graduated from high school, he likely wouldn’t be coming to UK under the same circumstances as Diallo, if he does indeed decide to enroll in the winter. Of course, if Sharpe is on the team this winter, there will surely be ongoing speculation as to whether he’d shed his “practice player” tag and actually suit up for the Cats this season.

That would add another intriguing storyline to an already interesting season.

Top Kentucky basketball recruiting links:

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UK target Isaiah Miranda among the top newcomers to 2023 rankings

Can anyone catch DJ Wagner for the No. 1 ranking in the 2023 class?

Closer look at the new ‘23 rankings from 247Sports, updated Wednesday

Sports Illustrated: Draft notes on TyTy Washington and Daimion Collins

John Calipari was in Pittsburgh area to check in on a freshman this week

National analyst: Can Kanye West’s school actually live up to the hype?

Four-star wing Jett Howard will play for his father Juwan at Michigan

More details emerge on how the new Overtime Elite League will work

Sports Illustrated: 64 reasons to be excited for the 2021–22 season

Top Chinese prospect Fanbo Zeng signs with G League, eyes 2022 draft

Maryland lands a commitment from international star Bobi Klintman

More recruiting links: Is Duke losing its grip on the No. 1 class for 2022?