2021 Five-Star Kennedy Chandler Discusses His Five Finalists

Elite point guard prospect Kennedy Chandler discusses his college recruitment

On Friday, a day after he released his five finalists for college, five-star 2021 point guard Kennedy Chandler appeared on Memphis radio.

The 6-foot-1 two-time Mr. Basketball from Memphis’ Briarcrest Christian spoke to Jason Smith and John Martin on Memphis 92.9 FM WSMY’s Jason and John Show.

He said that, after releasing a top 10 and then cutting it to five, the next announcement we get from him will involve him putting on the hat of his college choice.

“Right now, these are my final top five,” he said. “The next one will be me committing to a school.”

Chandler has heard from dozens of schools, and he’s glad to be focusing in on a handful at this point in the process.

“It felt good for me to just go ahead and release my top five,” he said. “So I won’t waste other coaches’ time. This top five that I chose was the best fits for me.”

Chandler was proactive and visited four of his five finalists before the pandemic made travel to schools impossible. “I haven’t been to North Carolina yet,” he said.

He visited Memphis on an unofficial visit last October, took a junior year official visit to Tennessee later that month and had unofficial visits to Duke in January and Kentucky in February. He was at Duke the weekend of College Gameday and the showdown with Louisville.

“It’s a blessing for me, because I had my recruitment start early and for me, for me to be able to see all the other schools, unlike the other kids in that whole (recruiting) world,” he said.

In recent weeks, he’s had to settle for virtual visits.

“They’re pretty cool,” he explained. “It’s the whole coaching staff calling you on the Zoom call. They’ll ask you questions about how you’ve been doing. They have to find a way to talk to us. A virtual call to see how we’re doing.”

He hasn’t had a virtual call with Memphis yet, but the other schools are getting in their Zoom time.

Chandler then went through each of his finalists, starting with Memphis.

“For me, it’s just my hometown,” he said. “I have a good relationship with Penny (Hardaway, Memphis’ coach), a sure first-round (draft) pick.”

Obviously, the hometown station wanted him to focus on Memphis’ recruiting pitch to Chandler.

“You know, Penny and them have been texting me,” he said, “and the coaching staff has been texting me, ever since last week. Penny has been Face-Timing me consistently ever since last week. … They’ve been texting me, just building the relationship with me stuff like that and saying that I’m going to be a great fit at the University of Memphis.”

The next finalist was North Carolina.

“UNC, Coach Roy Williams has always been one of the coaches to come see me during school ball,” he said, “coming to my practices and come my games. I have a good relationship with him and his staff—just the way he puts his point guards in the league and lets them play.”

Tennessee has also been putting on a big recruiting push for Chandler and power forward Paolo Banchero, who may decide to play together in college.

“Tennessee, I got a great relationship with them. Coach (Kim) English and Coach Rick Barnes. I had a great time when I went down there on my official visit. Just the atmosphere down there was crazy. I could see myself playing for the team.”

Then there’s Duke, who has targeted Chandler as their point guard in the class, to the point that they haven’t made an offer to any other 2021 lead guards.

“Duke has always been like a dream school for me,” he said. “I’ve been building a great relationship with Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) and the coaching staff. Just the way I’ve just been watching Duke for a long time.”

Kentucky is the final member of the top five.

“Kentucky is known for putting players in the league,” he said. “I feel like for me to go to Kentucky, they will push me to be the greatest and push me every day.”

Chandler didn’t drop any hints as to his favorite. As for what he’s looking for, he said, “For me, just building a relationship with the coaching staff and finding just the best fit for me. A school that can push me to be the greatest and push me to go harder today and just take me to the next level.”

In the meantime, he’s working out on his own.

“Me, I’ve just been trying to stay in shape,” he said. “Just been working out at the house, trying to stay in shape. Just trying to not stay in the house. Get out and run, do something to stay in shape.”