NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Ranking five-star 2020 G Cade Cunningham’s final 5 teams
5. The University of Florida
The worst choice for Cade Cunnigham would be the Florida Gators. There are several reasons why Florida is at the bottom of this list but the main reason would be the Gators’ lack of success as of late compared to some of the other teams on this list.
While Florida did make the Final Four in 2014 and the Elite Eight in 2017, the Gators barely snuck into the tournament in 2019. The Gators went 20-16 in 2018-19 and if it weren’t for a win over the LSU Tigers in the SEC Tournament, Florida might not have made it into the big dance.
However, they did make it in and they made it to the Round of 32 where they lost to the Michigan Wolverines. Not horrible for a team with a 10 seed, but compared to some of the other teams on this list, it doesn’t quite stack up.
Another reason why the Gators are at the bottom of this list is because of the uncertainty of whether or not incoming freshman point guard, Tre Mann, will still be wearing a Gators uniform for the 2020-21 season.
Now, Cunningham is the top ranked point guard in the Class of 2020 and the second ranked player overall so one would assume he would start. However, even though he would start, Cunningham might not get as many minutes throughout the game as he would at one of the other four schools on his list.
Mann, who is ranked 33rd overall in the Class of 2019 will have some big expectations placed upon him going into the 2019-20 season alongside Scottie Lewis who is ranked 10th by ESPN in the Class of 2019.
If Mann does wind up staying for his sophomore season in 2020-21, he would go into it with something Cunningham doesn’t have, a year of experience. Because of this and depending on his play this season, Florida might not necessarily need Cunningham and he might be more of a want.
In addition to these two reasons, Florida is one of only two teams on this list who does not yet have a player from the Top-100 of the Class of 2020 committed yet. Therefore, some of the other teams on Cunningham’s list might give him a better chance to win.