It was a mostly quiet week for the SEC on the basketball recruiting trail, but two programs that hold nine of the 12 all-time national championships were able to score big wins for blue-chips this past week.
Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari landed a true point guard recruit with a 51% 3-point shooter on the Nike EYBL circuit right after his former team, the Kentucky Wildcats, nabbed the No. 6 player in the entire 2027 high school cycle.
Here are the two major bits of SEC basketball news from this past week:
4-star PG Davion Thompson commits to Arkansas
Davion Thompson, the aforementioned sharpshooter in question, will head to Fayetteville next year to join the Hogs' rotation as a combo guard. An undersized lefty, Thompson heads to Arkansas on the heels of New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson making small left guards a stylish trend in the NBA Finals. Thompson, like Brunson, is a strong spot-up shooter but could also create opportunities by changing speeds and forcing space through physicality for fadeaway shots.
Thompson credited Calipari and his coaching staff for being hot on his tail through the recruiting process. He also shouted out Calipari's history of producing point guards, to the point where many say Coach Cal has overseen "PGU" for decades.
“Just the culture they have and the reputation that coach Cal has," Thompson said while explaining his commitment. "He has a lot of guards that come through, and he puts them in the NBA and in the best position to chase their dreams. It’s pretty much the coaching staff, too. They’ve been on me since I was a sophomore or junior, so I have a good relationship with them. I like the visit when I went up there. Everything was good."
It's hard not to foresee big things for Thompson on the Razorbacks. Unfortunately for Calipari, he didn't get the big fish earlier in the week, and truthfully, he wasn't even very close. Instead, his de facto rival did.
Mark Pope finally lands a 5-star with Ryan Hampton's Kentucky decision
Mark Pope badly needed a marquee addition to his 2027 recruiting class. He was starting to get a hopeless reputation in Lexington before his Wildcats turned things around and landed 5-star DME Academy forward Ryan Hampton. The LSU Tigers, SMU Mustangs, and Nebraska Cornhuskers were the other finalists.
Hampton is Pope's first 5-star, and he also figures to be the first one-and-done of the post-Calipari era. DFW-area Dynamic Prep star Marcus Spears Jr., the No. 1 player in the class, could be his next. The home-state Texas Longhorns may be in the lead for Spears, though. The No. 2 recruit in the class, big man CJ Rosser, has Kentucky and the North Carolina Tar Heels in strong consideration. The Southeastern Prep star's process will likely play out slowly, though. There's also notable interest from the Louisville Cardinals and NC State Wolfpack.
Perhaps Pope is turning things around after adding Hampton. Big Blue Nation was losing hope there for a bit.
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