By ADAM ZAGORIA
Two days after Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski watched Jonathan Kuminga at the John Wall Holiday Invitational, Kentucky coach John Calipari saw the 6-foot-8 junior in New Jersey.
Calipari watched for a quarter or so Kuminga as The Patrick School, ranked No. 3 nationally by USA Today and No. 1 by NJ.com, crushed Life Center 78-31 at the New Year’s Jump Off at Bergen Catholic.
Kuminga is ranked No. 1 overall in the Class of 2021 by 247Sports.com and is a projected Top-10 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Kentucky and Duke have now both seen him several times this season, while Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl and assistant Ira Bowman saw him Dec. 23 at the Kyrie Irving Invitational in Brooklyn.
“Everybody’s still recruiting me,” Kuminga told me this fall. “I’m just going to wait until I make the right decision, I don’t know when.”
Via @freshfocusports, here are some highlights of @JonathanKuming6 of @tps_hsbb , No. 1 in 2021 and a projected Top 10 pick, from Wednesday at the New Year's Jump Off run by @JSnjPlayaz.
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) January 2, 2020
John Calipari was in attendance to see him and Coach K saw Kuminga Monday. pic.twitter.com/QZ1Ct534KM
Calipari has pulled Nick Richards, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Dakari Johnson from St. Patrick/The Patrick School, while also landing other top New Jersey talent, including Kahlil Whitney, Isaiah Briscoe and Dajuan Wagner.
Here’s a little @JonathanKuming6 scoring in an open gym with John Calipari and Kenny Payne here pic.twitter.com/cHLxt2XK6O
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) September 16, 2019
Kuminga, who turned 17 on Oct. 6, is currently in the Class of 2021 although he has the option of reclassifying to 2020. He dominates high school opponents so much now, it’s hard to imagine he would even be challenged by another year of high school next year.
After playing in New Jersey, Kuminga and the Celtics will fly to Minnesota Thursday to play Bronny James, Zaire Wade, Kentucky commit B.J. Boston and Sierra Canyon (CA) on Friday. The game will be shown live on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. E.T.
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