Five-star point guard recruit Ashton Hagans has verbally committed to Kentucky, and you can understand why John Calipari is excited that the No. 1 point guard in the nation is joining his loaded 2019 recruiting class. As it turns out, the Wildcats coach may be a little too excited about it.
Calipari was asked a question about Hagans at the SEC’s spring meetings last week, and he committed a minor recruiting violation by responding. The question had to do with whether or not Calipari believed Hagans, a Georgia native, would still have flipped his commitment to Kentucky if former University of Georgia coach Mark Fox was not fired.
“He wanted us all along and we had waited, and Mark did a good job and jumped on it. I told him, ‘You’re smart,’” Calipari said, according to Seth Emerson of The Athletic. “But then the kid opens up when he figures out that stuff is happening. And we get a terrific player.”
Hagans’ father told SEC Country two weeks ago that Ashton is finishing up an online course and plans to enroll at Kentucky not later than August. The youngster almost certainly is not going to change his mind now, but Kyle Tucker of SEC Country notes that it is against NCAA rules for a coach to speak publicly about a recruit who has not yet signed a letter of intent.
What Calipari said will constitute a secondary violation, meaning it will not affect Hagans’ eligibility. It should amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist, which seems more than reasonable considering the circumstances. Calipari, of course, is no stranger to NCAA violations, but this one seems like nothing.
