NCAA Basketball: Analyzing top 6 options for top-10 PG Elliot Cadeau

When it comes to the 2024 NCAA Basketball recruiting class, Elliot Cadeau has a case to make that he’s the best pure point guard overall. He and another five-star prospect, Zoom Diallo, are fighting for that distinction. Cadeau is a consensus top-10 overall recruit and comes from the state of Missouri.

While he’s a bit undersized at 6’1 and around 170 pounds, the high school junior possesses an elite passing and ball-handling ability. The playmaking guard also is an electric scorer, capable of getting to the basket at a consistent level and creating offense for himself and others. He’s a solid defender as well and should be an instant impact player at the NCAA Basketball level.

There are six programs that are reportedly in the mix for his services, all of whom are quality power conference teams. Even though it’s two years from now when he’ll be with one of them, there’s still some knowledge about his potential fit with each of them.

Here’s a look at Cadeau potentially fits with each of them.

Kansas Jayhawks

There are lots of ball-handlers for the Jayhawks now and in the future, outside of senior transfer Kevin McCullar. The team recently landed top-30 point guard Elmarko Jackson in the 2023 class, as well as combo guards, Chris Johnson and Jamari McDowell. And there’s a good chance that Dajuan Harris, who started on last year’s national-title-winning team, will be a senior by the time Cadeau would arrive.

It’s a program that has sent a number of point guards to the NBA under head coach Bill Self and they’re on a 33-year streak of making the NCAA Tournament. The only contention is that Cadeau won’t be the only ball-handler on the court and have to share it more compare to the other options. But the opportunity of being a leading perimeter player on a contender is highly appealing.

Louisville Cardinals

Louisville is the complete opposite of Kansas when it comes to guard depth for the program. The ACC team only has starting guard El Ellis for 1-2 years and the only other perimeter player is Fabio Basili, a three-star freshman that joined the program late. Besides that is literally nothing, as they don’t have any guard commits in the 2023 class. One option that remains is five-star guard DJ Wagner, who reportedly is deciding between Louisville and Kentucky.

Even if he picks the Cardinals, Wagner likely is staying for just one year before going pro, so the backcourt would be wide open for Cadeau to come in and be a leading player on the offense. The team is rebuilding and we don’t know how good they’ll look by the time the prospect arrives but playing time is the top point they can make for him.