NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Predicting destinations for top 2020 prospects

14) Sharife Cooper

Position: PG
Height: 6-0
Weight: 160 lbs
Hometown: McEachern (Marietta, GA)
Considering: Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky (among others)

Scouting Report: The obvious downside with Cooper is his lack of size and strength and, with a small frame, those figure to be limitations for him throughout his career. That also caps his ability as a defender, where he can also improve.

But you have to love everything else about Cooper’s game. He’s extremely quick, uses both hands effectively, and is one of the best passers in this class. Cooper will be a tremendous facilitator at the college level, but he’ll be a lethal scorer as well thanks to a reliable jump shot and crafty finishes around the rim that help make up for his lack of size.

Prediction: Auburn. The Tigers and Kentucky appear to be the two schools at the very top of his list and BJ Boston, the top 10 prospect who has already committed to UK, is recruiting Cooper hard to join him in Lexington. However, Auburn has been recruiting him longer and has said he really likes the atmosphere Bruce Pearl has created inside the program.

It’s also easy to see Cooper fitting into Pearl’s system as a Jared Harper-like player running the Auburn’s up-tempo attack. Being able to pitch that, plus being close to Marietta, GA, I think will make the Tigers the choice here.