LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky basketball has lost one of its two class of 2019 commitments.
Forward DJ Jeffries, who is the No. 19 player in the class of 2019 Chosen 25, announced Monday he is reopening his recruitment.
“After careful consideration prayer and countless hours of consulting with my family I decided to reopen recruitment it was a hard decision but I am confident that taking my time to choose the right school for me to better myself educationally and athletically is the right choice,” Jeffries wrote in a note posted to Twitter.
Jeffries committed to Kentucky in March, but his former AAU coach Penny Hardaway was hired as Memphis’ new head coach eight days later.
Still, in a spring stop on the Nike EYBL AAU circuit in Indianapolis, Jeffries, who attends high school just across the Mississippi border from Memphis in Olive Branch, dismissed the suggest he might reconsider his commitment to look at Memphis.
“It’s not going to sway me,” he said. “I’m going to stay at Kentucky.”
Jeffries, who is rated as a four-star prospect by 247Sports and Rivals, averaged 11.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on the EYBL this summer. The 247Sports Composite, which averages the ratings of the three major recruiting services, ranks the 6-foot-8 Jeffries as the No. 37 prospect and No. 10 small forward in the 2019 class.
An AAU teammate of top-UK target James Wiseman, the No. 1-ranked player in the class according to the 247Sports Composite, Jeffries repeatedly mentioned his efforts to convince Wiseman to join him in Lexington during interviews this spring and summer.
Wiseman recently released a list of eight schools he is still considering, but Kentucky and Memphis are believed to be the heavy favorites.
“It would be really tough (for him to turn down Memphis) because him and Penny are so close,” Jeffries said of Wiseman’s decision in April. “It probably would be tough, but in life you got to make hard decisions sometimes.”
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