Shaedon Sharpe (Photo by Vicky Graff)
Krysten Peek, basketball writer for YahooSports and Rivals, has Kentucky freshman Shaedon Sharpe sixth in her latest NBA mock draft behind Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga, Jabari Smith of Auburn, Paolo Banchero of Duke, Jaden Ivey of Purdue and Keegan Murray of Iowa.
Peek has never wavered in her belief that Sharpe will be playing in the NBA next year rather than staying at Kentucky.
“Even when I spoke to him in October I was kind of getting the impression his end goal was not to play at Kentucky. His end goal is to be an NBA player and why would he risk injury or his draft stock falling (by staying at Kentucky),” Peek said. “The intrigue of who he could be is more of a positive than anything else right now.”
Peek said Sharpe will still have to go through NBA team workouts even if he does decide to not attend the NBA Combine once he puts his name officially into the NBA draft.
“There is no way he cannot at least do the workouts,” Peeks said. “If his workouts do not go well and he was to get feedback that he is not ready yet that could be the only way he returns to Kentucky but he was the No. 1 player (in the 2022 recruiting class) for a reason.”
Peek does believe Sharpe wanted to play this year at Kentucky but the feedback from those around him was to just sit out and not play.
Kentucky players several times talked about how good Sharpe looked in practice … but maybe not every practice.
“What I heard from some NBA guys that were able to go to practice was that he was not really practicing, either,” Peek said. “I don’t know if that was to protect him with NBA guys there or not.”
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor also has Sharpe slotted sixth in his most recent mock draft as does Jonathon Givony of ESPN.
“His scoring prowess in high school is enough to make him a lottery pick. Sharpe’s fluidity as an off-the-dribble scorer using an array of advanced moves alone makes him look like a no-brainer top-five pick,” O’Connor wrote. “Then you factor in his willingness to pass the ball and display grit on defense and you have to think he might have the potential to become a star.”
19 Responses
Not so fast, just read he has enroll in summer and fall classes weather the article is true or not remain to be clarify.
I’ve felt he is playing at UK next year all along. Still feel that way. Could he go high in the draft this year. Sure. But, he has greater plans than just getting to the NBA. He wants to be different, to make a long-lasting impact. How much would he stand out if he comes back and astounds people in a full season at Kentucky! Then, he’d have the NBA drooling over him as the #1 pick, heads and shoulders above the rest.
If he is a lottery pick, he would be absolutely stupid to come back. Just 1 injury at UK could end his career or cost him millions in the NBA. That is also the reason he didn’t want to play this year. If he came back and had a not so good year at UK, that would also cost him millions. Right now, the NBA will be pretty much buying a pig-in-a-Polk when they draft Sharpe and that is the way he wants to keep it.
Sharpe saw the circus that has engulfed KY basketball firsthand. He is getting out while the getting is good.
Whodat, the more I read about why cats didn’t play as well down the stretch I’m thinking it’s not all Cal fault what happen. Grady has spoken out Friday his thoughts what happen he came out and he said not only Ty Ty and Wheeler were never 100 percent recover from there injuries, Grady said he too play with pain about his knee was bang up and gave that why he was in a shooting slump.
whodat, you would have to show me your #BBN membership before I would believe you’re a Cats fan.
I have taken all of this debacle with a grain of salt. Cal will be Cal with his half statements and misdirection (sometimes a necessary part of UK BB, sometimes frustrating- ok, always frustrating) and who knows how we ended up here.
But if factually accurate, this article really bothers me.
“Even when I spoke to him in October I was kind of getting the impression his end goal was not to play at Kentucky."
What?! In October, 1 month after committing to UK, he was leading this reporter to believe that he had no intention of playing at Ky ??
That statement needs to be clarified because it sure doesn’t sound good.
And all of the other top talent at his position committed elsewhere because this young man was supposed to be here. Huge miss for UK
The NBA rules arent new- either they knew he was technically eligible for the draft or they didn’t.
Next statement: "Kentucky players several times talked about how good Sharpe looked in practice … but maybe not every practice….What I heard from some NBA guys that were able to go to practice was that he was not really practicing…" Peek said. “I don’t know if that was to protect him with NBA guys there or not.”
Ok, so he was great in real practice but when NBA scouts showed up, he was withheld from actual practice. Why? The article suggests that maybe it was to protect his draft status with NBA guys there? If that is true, it requires participation of the coaching staff and is very deceptive to "pull one over" on the NBA for a kid who isn’t ready- why else and what else is there to conceal?
Hide how great he is from the NBA so they won’t draft him and he will stay at KY?
There’s not a lot of plausible explanations here if this is being reported accurately, but I hope someone can come up with some reasonable alternatives that doesn’t require blind faith or sticking my head in the sand!
Big questions:
Right now, today, Is it a fact that he is eligible for the NBA draft or are we still waiting for the NBA to rule on this? If already ruled on, when did they send out this information to the family or coaching staff?
Concerning the buzz around campus that he intends to return, If he is telling this to students on campus, which seems to be implied in those stories being published, then they (coaching staff, university, family, he himself) should really just come out and clear this up to stop this runaway train!
If that buzz is only being implied because he is signed up for fall classes, it signals that he is covering all of his bases for future options (and since he is and has been attending UK on scholarship, it may be a requirement to keep his scholarship for summer classes. Many years ago when I was on scholarship, the deadline to sign up for fall classes was early spring.)
Anyone with facts or corrections?
He gone
Calipari should have played him. He probably knows that now. Ky missed an unquestionable opportunity to avoid the embarrassment of the first round had Shaden Sharpe been a part of the rotation. Oh, wait a minute, he wasn’t ready this year. Well, the NBA thinks he is ready for the most competitive league in the world. Sorry John, you missed on this one.
Judging by Caliparis own words i.e. excuse , Calipari should forget about high-school recruits and simply focus on transfer portal players with tournament experience..because lack of tourney experience doomed UK. So every recruit that obviously comes from high school will be lacking said experience and simply won’t be able to function in the tourney field.. Amazing .. Or St. Peter’s was simply better and clearly better coached. That’s an understatement. Cal is just an excuse maker.
Mark my words people who r dogging cal now r going to be eating their words.
Talking part is over. That’s what we get . Alot of talk. Hot air.Nobody likes to hear Cal talk more than Cal.
I hope you are right Michael because that would mean UK has a great 2022-23 season
Serious question: Is that to imply that you think he has only one season left to redeem himself?
I think he is gone but like said has to enroll in classes as part of scholarship.I think when he enrolled at ky he was planning to come back next season but as season went on and his stock kept rising I think he has leaned more towards NBA. I agree if he has no plans or never did of playing next season just come out and say it now. We all can understand why like millions of reasons but don’t think anyone will back his decision if he lets it drag on to deadline only to leave.
Might be several more weeks before we know what he will do
I agree with all of that except I think the point of this article is that Krysten Peek interviewed him last October, and she believed even then that his intent was to play in the NBA, not UK for the 2022/2023 season.
She is a respected NBA draft analyst, Yahoo sports writer, former director of Rivals….. so, she’s not making things up.
I could be misinterpreting what she said, but if true, that is a bigger deal than any of us thought.
I think you are right on all points about Krysten there MoreHorsePower
Wow?!