The No. 1 Hoops Recruit In The Class Of 2021 Decided To Reclassify ... So He Can Skip College And Play In The G League With Other Top Prospects
And there it is. It's not shocking that Jonathan Kuminga picked the G League, this was expected. He picked the G League over Kentucky, Duke, Texas Tech and Auburn. But here it is again, another top prospect - the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2021 before he reclassified - deciding to go there. He joins Isaiah Todd, Jalen Green, Daishen Nix and Kai Sotto on joining this. That's pretty, pretty good, considering 4 of them are top-15 guys. That's a huge haul in year one.
I've said it before, this isn't going to ruin college hoops because we all cheer for laundry. But this isn't great. This is something to monitor. I know it might be a hot take, but I prefer to have the best possible players in college hoops - even if it's just for one year. You're telling me you didn't enjoy Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, John Wall, Zion, Trae Young, etc for their one year? All were pretty fucking awesome to watch.
So why is this a problem for college hoops? I think we all can agree - like I said - it's not going to ruin it, but it's certainly not helping. The main problem is the fact more sophomores/juniors are leaving early and they are guys who typically aren't going to get drafted. These are the guys that would always stay 3-4 years. Those days are long gone - and rightfully so - because there's more money than ever out there. Whether you're talking about a two-way deal or playing overseas it's easier to make money in a pro basketball career. So instead of replacing them with top end talent, you're now talking about 4 top-15 guys skipping college. Yes, it's a small number, but this is year 1. If this G League pro pathway works out, that number could keep going up and up.
Again, I have no idea how this G League pro pathway is going to work - especially with coronavirus and uncertainty across sports all around. But getting big names and not just the borderline 4-star guys is massive.
As for Kuminga, he's pretty, pretty good.