Former 5-Star Georgetown Recruit SF Kahlil Whitney to Leave Kentucky

Former 5-Star 2019 recruit, forward Kahlil Whitney (6’6”), has announced that he is leaving Kentucky’s basketball program. Whitney was a recruit of the Georgetown Hoyas and the program made a list of his final four choices back in 2018.

A Sea of Blue, a Kentucky blog on SB Nation, says that playing time was an issue for Whitney recently and speculates that the 19 year old may forgo further amateur competition:

Reading between the lines of Whitney’s tweet, he made sure to say ‘leaving’ and not ‘transferring.’ []

Still, my guess is he transfers to a different college like Illinois, who came in second place in his recruitment...

... Whitney was averaging 3.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists on 37.1% shooting. He’s made just one field goal over his last seven games and has played less than 10 minutes in five of his last seven games.

Georgetown had previously made Whitney’s Top 4 (see below) and in 2017, Whitney said:

“Georgetown was one the most exciting offers I received because I got to meet Patrick Ewing on a visit... He told me how good of a player I am and what I need to work on. Coach Ewing said I could be special...”

And Whitney told Pat Lawless in 2018:

“I talk to Patrick Ewing almost every day and he says I get their style of play. He also thinks I can get to the next level if I were to go to Georgetown.”

Perhaps more importantly form today, a couple college basketball “insiders” have mentioned Georgetown as a possible landing spot.

Pursuing a waiver for the required transfer year in residency is likely the biggest hurdle, but Whitney would likely be leaving dollars on the table if he went straight to the 2020 NBA Draft. There’s no doubt he has talent.

Let’s hope that Pedro’s January 2nd prediction is right...

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From August 2018:

Following his official visit to Kentucky, Whitney has cut his final list of 8 to 4. Georgetown has made the cut.

5-Star Class of ‘19 forward Khalil Whitney revealed his top 8 schools and Georgetown has made the cut! The NJ native is ranked the 14th overall player in the Class of 2019 by ESPN.

Florida State, Illinois, Oregon, Kentucky, Louisville, Miami and SMU are the other 7 schools on his list.

Patrick Ewing and the staff have made Whitney a priority in the Class of ‘19 and the staff’s hard work has thus far paid off. Still a long way to go in his recruitment, but good first step here.

From a recent post on 247 Sports:

Then there is Kahlil Whitney, a 6-6 wing with the body of a NBA player already. Whitney has the total package as a wing. He is physical, aggressive, athletic and skilled. A three level scorer, Whitney also impacts the game defensively and as a rebounder.

Georgetown, Illinois and Syracuse were thought to be the schools in front for Whitney, but John Calipari got an eyeful in July and offered him. The Wildcats are now considered the school to beat for Whitney, who is officially visiting Kentucky later this week.