Top-five 2020 recruits announce official visit to Memphis
Jalen Green and R.J. Hampton, two of the top five players in the 2020 recruiting class, said in a video posted to social media Saturday afternoon that they will take official visits to Memphis. The two guards made their announcement from the SLAM Summer Classic at Dyckman Park in New York City.
Rod Hampton, R.J.’s father, said Saturday the two guards plan to visit Memphis on Sept. 13-14. R.J. Hampton said last month he is considering reclassifying to the 2019 recruiting class.
“They’ve been tied-in since day one of USA Basketball,” Rod Hampton said. “Jalen is an outstanding shooting guard prospect and R.J. is a point guard prospect, so they really bounce off each other . ... They have talked about playing together for a while now.”
Green is considered the No. 1 player in the class of 2020 by Rivals and 247Sports. Hampton is ranked inside of the top five, according to the 247Sports Composite.
“(The Memphis staff) threw a couple dates out, and I talked to Jalen’s parents,” Rod Hampton said. “Both dates worked for us. We had about three dates, but it’s going to come to a point here very soon when high school basketball gets into it, and we are not taking any official visits when high school basketball starts.”
Earlier this month the NCAA announced that it will allow high school players to take five official visits between Aug. 1 and the end of their junior year, five between the end of their junior year and Oct. 15, and five between Oct. 15 and college eligibility. The change was instrumental in getting Hampton and
Green to make the decision to visit so early.
“That doesn’t mean they are going to take all their visits together, and that doesn’t mean they are going to play together,” Rod Hampton said.
The two players met each other two years ago at the 2016 USA Basketball camp between their eighth and ninth grade seasons.
Green played for current Memphis assistant coach Sam Mitchell on the Adidas Gauntlet circuit this past spring before Mitchell was hired by Tigers coach Penny Hardaway. Hampton’s father spoke glowingly about the Memphis staff last month.
“What I like about (Hardaway and Miller) is that they are just good people,” Rod Hampton said. “You can ask them about anything and they will keep it real with you. They have called, and I’ll ask them for critiques on R.J.’s game and they are always happy to oblige.”
But Hampton’s father is still anxious to see how the coaches perform at the college level. He credited the staff ’s recruiting prowess, but said the ability to handle the X’s and O’s as coaches, not players, still needs to be proven.
“By no means are they out of the woods,” Rod Hampton said. “Recruiting is a big part of it, but you have to land some of these guys. I’m waiting to see what happens when the first ball drops.”
The official visits from the highlyranked 2020 players continue Hardaway’s momentum on the recruiting trail.
Memphis is already in the mix for several players inside of the top 50 in the class of 2019, most notably James Wiseman, Matthew Hurt, Trendon Watford, Jahmius Ramsey, DJ Jeffries and CJ Walker.
Wiseman, the No. 1 player in 247Sports’ Composite rankings for the class of 2019, took an unofficial visit to Memphis last September to attend the Memphis vs. UCLA football game.
Walker, another top 50 prospect on Memphis’ radar, will be announcing his top five schools on social media on Sunday.