Five-star 2020 PG Caleb Love cuts Kansas, trims list to final two

By Matt Tait     Sep 26, 2019

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Kansas University basketball recruiting

Five-star Class of 2020 point guard Caleb Love on Wednesday trimmed his list of finalists to two — Missouri and North Carolina — and called off scheduled visits to Kansas and Louisville.

Evan Daniels, of 247 Sports, first reported the news and it should not come as a surprise to Kansas fans.

While Love was scheduled to visit KU the weekend of Oct. 11 — rescheduled from earlier this month because of a schedule conflict with USA Basketball — everyone I talked to in recruiting circles in recent weeks seemed to think there was next to no chance that the 6-foot-3, 175-pound point guard from Christian Brothers College High in St. Louis was coming to Kansas.

The No. 21-ranked prospect in the Rivals.com 2020 class has long been tied to Missouri, both because of the Tigers’ proximity to his hometown and his relationship with MU coach Cuonzo Martin. But it appears his visit to North Carolina last weekend really got things moving toward a final decision.

As of Sept. 17, in an interview with Rivals.com’s Eric Bossi, Love said he expected things to become clearer after he took “all of these visits.” At that time, the expectation was that he would visit all four of his finalists (he had already made an unofficial visit to KU this summer) and then make a decision, perhaps as soon as the November signing period.

But then the trip to UNC happened and Love cancelled his visits to KU and Louisville and trimmed his list to a final two. You’d have to be blind not to see how good that looks for the Tar Heels.

There will be some speculation that Love made the decision to cut Kansas in reaction to [this week’s Notice of Allegations news,][1] but I don’t think that’s the case here. I think this was coming the minute he made the trip to Carolina and I’d be surprised if the five-star point guard does not end up playing for Roy Williams next season.

Wrote Daniels of Love’s skill set: “Love can play either guard spot and shows significant potential on the defensive end. A score-first point guard, he has the ability to put his team on his back as a bucket getter or a facilitator. Right now, he is more comfortable taking shots than setting up teammates, but his passing has improved and he is doing a better job of running a team. Ultimately, it comes down to Love’s ability to run a team at the college level and beyond, but there is no doubt he can score.”

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2019/sep/24/analysis-understanding-what-matters-and-what-doesn/

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.