LEXINGTON, Ky. _ It was a commitment that seemingly came out of nowhere, but point guard Nolan Hickman had actually been on Kentucky's recruiting radar for quite some time.
Hickman _ a 6-foot-2 prospect from Seattle _ announced his pledge to the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon, becoming the first player to join the program's 2021 class. Predictions in UK's favor didn't start popping up on the national recruiting websites until Friday night, and there had been no confirmation of a scholarship offer from the Wildcats to Hickman until he revealed his commitment on social media the next day.
Kentucky had been watching, however.
The Cats' coaching staff saw plenty of Hickman as they scouted top 2021 recruit Paolo Banchero last spring and summer. Banchero, arguably UK's top target in the class until his commitment to Duke on Thursday night, was Nike league teammates with Hickman, who ended up as the second-leading scorer on their Seattle Rotary squad and finished the summer with a 2.4-1 assist-to-turnover ratio on the highly competitive Nike circuit.
As a high school junior this past season, Hickman averaged 17.3 points, 3.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game, making 38% of his 3-point attempts.
UK's coaches ran into him again during that campaign.
John Calipari and Tony Barbee traveled to Washington state in their continued pursuit of Banchero, and Hickman was playing for the other team. On that night, the point guard poured in 36 points, and his Eastside Catholic squad defeated Banchero and O'Dea High School, 85-62. Hickman said later that he didn't even know the UK coach was in attendance until after the game, but the junior point guard clearly made a lasting impression on Calipari and Barbee.
A few weeks after that game, the NCAA announced a halt to all recruiting-related travel for college coaches because of the coronavirus pandemic. If not for that travel ban, which remains in effect, Hickman might have emerged as a legitimate Kentucky target much sooner.
The Wildcats still zeroed in on him even before their earliest 2021 point guard target, Kennedy Chandler, announced his commitment to Tennessee earlier this month. By the time of Chandler's announcement, Barbee had already moved on to Hickman, and the Seattle playmaker is now the first member of Kentucky's 2021 recruiting class.
Rivals.com ranks him as the No. 76 overall player in the 2021 rankings. 247Sports grades him as the No. 30 overall recruit and No. 3 point guard in the class.
Corey Evans, national recruiting analyst at Rivals.com, said Saturday that the site might have Hickman _ 6-2 with a 6-8 wingspan _ a little under-ranked. Wherever he ends up on such lists, he'll project as an instant-impact contributor at Kentucky next season.
"He's only gotten better and better," Evans told the Herald-Leader. "I love his size. I love his length. I love his physicality that he goes about playing the game. So I just cannot see it not working out for him at Kentucky."
.png?w=600)
