WKU Recruiting: 2020 Basketball Big Board 1.0

With the summer recruiting season about to heat up, Rick Stansbury and company are looking to find the next members of the Western Kentucky University basketball program. With the 2019–20 team sealed up, Stansbury will now turn his attention to the 2020 class and beyond. Here’s WKU Basketball’s scholarship situation for 2020 as of June 28th:

Exhausting Eligibility in 2019-20

1. Jared Savage — Senior (Forward)
2. Camron Justice- Senior (Guard)

Probably Gone

1. Kenny Cooper- Senior (Guard)
2. Charles Bassey — Sophomore (Center)

If Kenny Cooper, the Lipscomb transfer, gets a waiver by the NCAA to play in 2019–20 then he’ll exhaust his eligibility next spring opening up a scholarship for 2020, if denied the waiver then he’ll be on the 2020–21 squad. Bassey tested the NBA draft waters this spring. He waited until the last minute to come back due to his stock not being high enough. I’d be shocked if he came back again for his junior year regardless of how his sophomore season plays out. Even if he doesn’t improve his stock, I see him starting his pro career with a G-League/European path should the NBA not have a place for him.

Should Be Coming Back

1. Taveion Hollingsworth — Junior (Guard)
2. Josh Anderson — Junior (Guard)
3. Carson Williams — Junior (Forward)
4. Marek Nelson — Junior (Forward)
5. Tolu Smith — Sophomore (Forward)
6. Jeremiah Gambrell — Sophomore (Guard^)
7. Isiah Cozart — Freshman (Forward)
8. Jackson Harlan — Freshman (Guard)
9. Nick Ongenda — Freshman (Center)
10. Jordan Rawls- Freshman (Guard*)

Walk On — Patrick Murphy — Junior (Guard)

^Gambrell could get a medical redshirt due to injuries in 2018–19

*Rawls still hasn’t been announced by WKU yet. Should he not reclassify he’ll slide into 2020 class with potential players listed below

As you can tell, WKU will have at least two scholarships to offer in the 2020 class with the potential to add 4–6 players depending on unexpected departures (Banton, Diange & Ohmer weren’t expected to leave after last year). As you can see WKU’s lineup is pretty deep across the position groups but based on who Stansbury has offered (below), you’d think he’d be looking to add 1–2 big men, a point guard, and some shooters to replace Savage & Justice.

With that in mind here are the potential 2020 prospects that have been linked to WKU over the past few months.

Dayvion McKnight, Guard: Collins High School (Shelbyville, KY)

Every year it seems that Stansbury targets several Kentucky high school players right before they break out. Sometimes he succeeds on locking them in (Taveion Hollingsworth, Isiah Cozart) and other times he comes up short (KyKy Tandy, Dontaie Allen). This year’s player that falls under that description is the 6'1'’ 180 pound McKnight. Stansbury has been on Shelbyville native (AJ Slaughter’s hometown) since last October.

Playing on the same M.A.T.T.S Mustangs AAU squad that produced Hollingsworth, Allen, & Cozart, McKnight’s recruitment has started off slowly getting offers from Winthrop, Kent State, Middle Tennessee, Murray State, Cleveland State, Ball State & NJIT. Recently McKnight showed out at the Titans/Rockets Invitation in Shelbyville in front of Stansbury and many others. His recruitment has picked up steam with another offer from Saint Louis and has started receiving interest from P5 schools including Northwestern, Ole Miss & Arkansas.

The still unrated prospect projects to be a point guard but might be a combo guard at the college level. At Collins, he averaged 17 points, 10.3 rebounds on 50% shooting. He shot 33.3% from three-point range and shot an impressive 79% from the free throw line during his junior year. According to Pure Prospects, if he can develop his outside shot, the high major offers will flood in. We’ll see if Stansbury can lock him in before that happens.

Chanse Robinson, Guard- Lincoln Prepatory, Grambling, LA

Louisiana is another state that Stansbury has focused on since coming to the Hill a few years ago. He got Josh Anderson & Pancake Thomas (via Grad Transfer) from the Pelican State (also signed Mitchell Robinson but we know how that turned out). The 6'0 Robinson seems to be right in the wheelhouse of players that Stansbury has targeted out of the gulf coast region. High three/low 4 star players that can come to WKU and play instead of sitting on the bench at high major schools.

WKU will have their hands full with the three-star Robinson, as he’s got offers from many high major programs including Iowa, Missouri, Baylor, TCU, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss & Seton Hall. But WKU did make his final 16 that he announced two weeks ago.

Despite the Hilltoppers being listed among those teams, they remain a long shot to get the top 250 Robinson. With Jordan Rawls hopefully on the roster & McKnight seen as the higher priority, it would surprise me if the Toppers make his final eight when it is released in August. Until then he’ll remain on our list.

Eddie Lampkin, Center- Morton Ranch (Katy, TX)

Another area that Stansbury has focused on recruiting hard is the Texas area. After learning the area during his time as an assistant at Texas A&M, he has regularly mined the Houston, San Antonio & Dallas suburbs and has reeled in highly regarded prospects including Charles Bassey, Jeremiah Gambrell & Marek Nelson. Lampkin is the latest in a line of Lone Star prospects that Stansbury has pursued.

The 6'10'’ 295 pound Lampkin is a wide body center that would conceivably step into Bassey’s place after he leaves for the NBA. He is a four-star prospect according to ESPN and a 3-star prospect according to 247 & Rivals. His offer list is a who’s who of nearby power schools including Oklahoma, LSU, TCU, Texas Tech & Baylor. WKU got some good news Wednesday on the Lampkin front as it was announced that he is he was taking an official visit to WKU

It remains to be seen how serious he is about the Toppers. Stansbury has gotten many a high-level prospect to visit the Hill over the past few years that didn’t commit. We should know more about how serious he is about WKU in the coming days.

JJ Traynor, Forward- Bardstown High School (Bardstown, KY)

Just as Stansbury likes to target up and coming prospects from the Bluegrass, he also likes to find diamonds in the rough in Kentucky as well. Players such as Jake Ohmer & Jackson Harlan are just a few examples of lightly recruited players that Stansbury identified for his system. Traynor might be the next player that matches that description. the 6'8 170 pounds small forward is coached by former Louisville Cardinal James “Boo” Brewer. The Bardstown native’s numbers don’t jump off the page (11.2 ppg & 8.6 rpg) but his size and athleticism stick out. WKU was recently the first school to offer Traynor.

Traynor might be poised to be another break out player over the summer evaluation period. He just started playing AAU basketball causing him to fly under the radar. He performed well at the same showcase that McKnight was at causing more offers to flood in with NKU and Ball State joining the pursuit. We’ll see if he remains a focus for Stansbury or a backup plan as Stansbury’s travels are regularly mentioned by the recruiting media.

Cliff Omoruyi, Center- Roselle Catholic (Roselle, NJ)

The highest rated prospect that WKU has been linked to is 6'11 230 pound New Jersey native Omoruyi. He is ranked in the top 50 range by Rivals, 247 Sports & ESPN. While the Tops don’t appear to be a favorite, they are one of the 25 top programs that offered the four-star big man.

Kentucky and in-state Rutgers seem to be the favorites to the athletic big man. While a long shot for WKU, we’ll keep him on the radar until more information comes out, narrows down the list or WKU fills the center spot for 2020.

Terren Frank, Forward- Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, CA)

Another long shot is the son of a WKU legend from the 80’s. Terren Frank is the son of former Hilltopper great Tellis Frank, who played on the Hill from 1983–87 leading WKU to back to back NCAA tournaments before playing in the NBA (87–94) for the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat & Minnesota Timberwolves. The younger Frank is a four-star 6'7'’ power forward that received his offer from Stansbury almost a year ago.

While it is cool seeing WKU offer a legacy player, it doesn’t seem like the Hilltoppers have stayed on Frank’s radar. Most of the schools recruiting him are in the Pac-12 (Arizona, Arizona State, USC, Oregon State, Cal) and he looks like he’s going to stay on the west coast for college. He recently visited Arizona and it wouldn’t be shocking if the Wildcats are one of his favorites moving forward. Because of his Hilltopper pedigree, we’ll keep him on our big board until more information becomes available.

After a rocky first few years with massive roster turnover, WKU roster has started to stabilize under Stansbury. For 2019 only six newcomers grace the roster. We look for Stans to target 2–3 high school seniors and then leave a spot or two for grad transfers, traditional transfers or reclassifications (Zion Harmon if he’s interested in returning to Bowling Green). Stay tuned to the Towel Rack for all of your recruiting news and we’ll update you as more information becomes available.