Kentucky wing Shaedon Sharpe has been subject to one of the most interesting discussions in the basketball community over the past year. A relatively unheralded recruit out of Canada early in his high school career, Sharpe blossomed late and morphed into a consensus top-five recruit in the Class of 2022 (ranked by some as the No. 1 player). At 6-foot-6 with long arms and elite athleticism, NBA teams became intensely interested in him as a future lottery pick.
Sharpe committed to Kentucky in September, announced plans to enroll early in November and arrived on campus in Lexington the first week of January. The stated plan following his enrollment was to train and practice with the Wildcats but sit out this season, and then play the 2022-23 collegiate season before declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft. But Sharpe’s camp and UK coach John Calipari have softened on that stance since his arrival, all of them essentially saying: If he’s ready, he’ll play.
That has led to intense, nonstop speculation about whether he’ll suit up and eventually contribute to the current team, which looks to be at the very least an SEC championship contender, or stick to the original plan. But now the pressure for Sharpe to play – and scrutiny about why he hasn’t yet – has been ratcheted up.
There’s a difference between the assumption that Sharpe is eligible to enter the 2022 NBA Draft and that Sharpe can apply to do so (which The Athletic has confirmed), and it dives into a bit of a gray area in terms of information at our disposal.
How would Sharpe be eligible for the 2022 NBA Draft? There is a two-pronged criteria test for NBA Draft eligibility for college players. The first is age. Sharpe turns 19 on May 30, 2022, which fulfills the stipulation that the player must turn 19 in the calendar year of the draft.
