A little more than nine hours before No. 2 Kansas and No. 5 Tennessee got to work in the title game of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Barclays Center, the Jayhawks got a bit of bad news from the recruiting trail when four-star power forward Zeke Nnaji announced his commitment to Arizona.
Nnaji, a 6-foot-10, 215-pound prospect from Hopkins High outside of Minneapolis, announced the news in the Hopkins gymnasium with friends, family members and teammates in attendance.
Nnaji picked Arizona over Baylor, Kansas, North Carolina, Purdue and UCLA. The Minnesota native had made official visits to five of those six schools, including Kansas around Late Night, and also took an unofficial visit to UNC last weekend after the Tar Heels jumped in on him late.
Nnaji, who is ranked No. 37 overall in the 2019 class by Rivals.com, becomes the second high-profile power forward to pass on Kansas in the past month. Top 10 prospect Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, of IMG Academy by way of Bishop Miege High, elected to join the Villanova program a few weeks ago instead of staying close to home with Kansas.
Friday’s news leaves Top 10 prospect Matt Hurt and four-star shooting guard Cassius Stanley (No. 31, with finalists KU, UCLA and Oregon) as KU’s most important remaining targets in the 2019 class.
Because Hurt and Nnaji played AAU ball together, many believed the two could wind up at the same college, but a handful of recruiting analysts have reported that Hurt and Nnaji are not necessarily a packaged deal.
The 6-9, 200-pound Hurt, No. 6 per Rivals.com’s latest rankings, is expected to make an official visit to KU sometime this season and make a college decision next spring.
Hopkins 2019 forward Zeke Nnaji announces for Arizona… pic.twitter.com/0ySfWKIPqj
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) November 23, 2018