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Kentucky is one of three schools remaining on Purdue graduate transfer Matt Haarms’ final list, and his decision likely will come soon.
The Wildcats certainly have a need for a 7-3 shot-blocking center after the departure of Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery to the NBA.
Texas Tech and BYU — where former UK player Mark Pope is the coach — are the other schools on Haarms’ final three. Considering one reason he says he’s leaving Purdue is to get more NBA ready, Kentucky would seem to be the logical choice after he had almost 30 offers after averaging 8.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season.
However, there could be one glitch for the Wildcats. Recruiting analysts and media members have both told me as flamboyant and outgoing as Haarms is on the court, he does not enjoy the spotlight off the court. He doesn’t love interviews or media attention.
Obviously, the spotlight shines brightly on every UK player and with no other bigs yet on the 2020-21 roster the spotlight — and media attention — would be focused on him a lot.
Could they stop him from coming to UK? Probably not but it is interesting that BYU and Texas Tech are both programs without the daily spotlight/attention that Kentucky does.
