After bowing out of the second round of the 2026 March Madness, the Kentucky Wildcats would like to further improve their record in the upcoming college basketball season. So far, coach Mark Pope’s offseason recruiting struggles have left the Kentucky-based program a little thin on the roster depth chart, with only one class of 2026 addition in the form of PG Mason Williams.
However, it looks like Pope’s Class of 2027 recruiting deadlock has been broken with the commitment of forward Ryan Hampton. Rated as a four-star prospect by ESPN, Hampton will now feature for the Wildcats in their 2027 campaign, despite having received offers from a plethora of programs.
Upon the Florida native’s official commitment, Ryan received a heartfelt congratulatory message from his brother RJ Hampton. The former 2020 NBA first-round pick took to his Instagram to support his brother’s latest achievement with a one-word caption:
“Superstar,” RJ Hampton captioned his instagram post for brother Ryan.
RJ Hampton and brother Ryan Hampton posing in RJ’s latest Instagram post (post via Instagram/@rj14)
The post, which has already garnered over 20 comments in less than an hour, featured Ryan donning a Kentucky jersey while holding a basketball as he stood next to RJ. While RJ skipped college basketball to prepare for the NBA draft, it looks like his younger sibling has opted for a rather more traditional path.
After representing the Denver Nuggets during the 2020-21 season, RJ has also played for the likes of the Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, and Miami Heat in his 170-game-long NBA career.
Ryan Hampton Earns Top-20 Spot on ESPN’s 2027 Prospects List
Despite going through a dry spell for the majority of this recruiting window, Mark Pope’s first 2027 commit is already climbing the leaderboard, as evident from his latest feature on ESPN SC Next’s top 100 prospects list.
Standing at 6’6″ and 190 pounds, Kentucky’s latest forward titan currently occupies the 20th spot on this coveted prospects leaderboard with an overall grade rating of 89.
Being this high up on the list only makes sense when you put Hampton’s latest numbers in perspective. During his two-season stint in the EYBL circuit, Ryan garnered an average of 22 points along with 6.3 rebounds per game while representing LivOn. For his current team, Nightrydas, the four-star forward has been a force to be reckoned with this season, averaging 21.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in the four games played.
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