Bryce Hopkins is still headed to the Bluegrass State.
The Fenwick senior, who decommitted from Louisville in August, gave Kentucky and coach John Calipari a commitment Monday.
With the commitment, Kentucky lands the state’s No. 2 ranked prospect in the Class of 2021 and one of the top 30 players in the country.
“When they offered it was a bit of a dream come true,” Hopkins said. “As a kid it was one my dream schools. I watched them on TV, knew of their great history, the résumé of the program and all the players they have sent to the NBA. It’s a program that has always stood out.”
Before the pandemic there were few players who spent more time on college campuses and visiting with college coaching staffs than Hopkins. He took close to 20 unofficial visits during the first recruiting process, committing to Louisville almost a year ago.
But Kentucky initially wasn’t one of the many visits he took or offers he received.
The landscape, though, began to change when Kentucky offered the 6-6 forward in August. Though there were no recruiting visits allowed because of the pandemic, he and his family took their own trip to Kentucky in the middle of September to get a feel for Lexington and the campus. The momentum began to soon shift towards the Wildcats.
Hopkins says the toughest part of his second recruiting go-around was the actual decommitment because, he says, “I really liked Louisville and those guys. It’s why he wanted to take his time, waiting nearly two months to commit after receiving the Kentucky offer.
But through multiple Zoom conferences, phone calls and texts with Calipari and the Kentucky staff, a comfort level began to grow.
“We started to make a real connection, I think, just after our second Zoom, and kept in touch and established a relationship,” Hopkins said in regard to the Kentucky coaches.
The history, tradition and the lure of a true Blue Blood basketball program certainly resonated with Hopkins. But what Hopkins said stood out the most and what he couldn’t ignore was the magnitude of what Kentucky has done in preparing players for the next level.
“The one thing that stood out the most to me with the basketball is all that they do in developing their players,” said Hopkins, who had Indiana, Illinois and Providence on his short list in the end.
Since Calipari arrived in 2009, Kentucky has had a whopping 38 players taken in the NBA Draft, including 25 Lottery picks.
“How they develop guys and get their players to the league and how many players are drafted stands out,” Hopkins said. “I have to go there and work, do what I have to do, keep my head straight and hopefully I can also get to the NBA.”
A highly-regarded prospect early in his career, Hopkins burst on the scene as a sophomore while putting up huge numbers for the Friars. He emerged as a national recruit and then followed it up with a junior season in which he averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game.
Fenwick coach Staunton Peck has watched the massive growth of Hopkins as a player each year. Based on the foundation the player had going for him, Peck wasn’t surprised to see the steady improvement from his star player.
“What really helped him succeed and improve is having great parents at home,” Peck points out. “There was a solid base for him that provided the same message from home that we tried to instill. There was great support there for him.
“Plus he loves to work out, get in the gym, train and has a commitment to becoming a better player. He’s motivated to get better. That’s all going to help him succeed at the next level.”
An instinctive player, especially for his size and position, Hopkins is a multi-faceted, big-bodied hybrid forward with strength and terrific hands. He can put it on the floor effectively, create for others with his feel for passing and uses his body to overpower defenders in getting to the rim and finishing.
“He’s a position-less offensive player who offers so much versatility, especially with how the game is going,” Peck said.
Hopkins joins a lengthy list of players from Illinois who have headed to Kentucky over the years, including Antoine Walker, Nazr Mohammed, DeAndre Liggins, Anthony Davis and Tyler Ulis –– all NBA draft picks. But he will be the first to have been committed to Kentucky rival Louisville first before changing his mind and heading 80 miles east to Lexington.
“I am sure a lot of them will be in my ear,” Hopkins said of the Louisville fans. “That’s something I will have to deal with and just try and ignore. But I am relieved to get it [recruitment] over and have the opportunity to play in a great program and get better as a player at Kentucky.”
Hopkins is Kentucky’s second commitment in the Class of 2021, joining four-star point guard Nolan Hickman out of Utah.
