If Olivier Sarr becomes eligible, Kentucky enters the 2020-2021 basketball season as a Final Four favorite.
If you don’t, there will be many questions about how complete this team will be. While there is talent coming in to play on the front court, the size and role of a traditional center just doesn’t exist.
Recently, the 2021 prospect, Moussa Cisse, announced that it is being reclassified for 2020. The five-star center is exactly what Kentucky would need if Sarr wasn’t in the equation, but ultimately guaranteed playtime earned, since Cisse announced today that she will be playing for the Memphis Tigers. ESPN broke the news first.
Cisse is player number 9 and center number 2 in the ranking of 247 Sports Composite. He will have an immediate impact in Memphis and has the potential to play in the NBA 2021 Draft Lottery.
LSU was seen as Cisse’s favorite for much of last year, but for whatever reason, Memphis began to gain traction in the past few weeks before choosing the AAC Tigers. Perhaps LSU’s pending notice of the NCAA allegations, which could lead to a postseason ban on a possible suspension of head coach Will Wade.
While it is a great foul for Kentucky, it is not unexpected. Just as Frank Anselem walked away from Kentucky and became engaged to Syracuse, no one wants to come in and play behind Olivier Sarr. That’s understandable, but it puts immense pressure on Sarr’s eligibility waiver.
Despite last season’s debacle with the proven lack of skill of James Wiseman and Penny Hardaway as coach, Memphis continues to bring in the best players and shake hands with many others. Since Penny’s first big class struggled last season, there can be a lot of pressure on this group to redeem the Hardaway name in the recruiting world.
Can Cisse handle that kind of pressure? Hopefully we’ll have a season and we’ll have a chance to find out.
