5 College Basketball Guard Reclasses That Did Not Work Out

College Basketball Guard Reclasses That Did Not Work Out

Illinois Basketball is currently trying to add guards to their recruiting classes. Given that they lose a lot of backcourt pieces in the next year, Illinois is trying to supplement Morez Johnson and Amani Hansberry. Jeremiah Fears is a name that constantly comes up, Illinois fans are all for the younger Fears taking his talents to Champaign. Fears is a talented youngster who may even be a McDonalds All-American. He is a top player in the class of 2025. However, rumors have swirled that the talented guard may be considering a reclass to the Class of 2024. Given the urgency for Illinois fans to succeed now, fans have been all for it. Fans argue that Fears is a talented player who is ready. A top 2025 recruit should do fine! Per 247sports, Fears is the 27th overall prospect in their composite rankings. Also, they argue that Adam Fletcher could transform his body.

All of that is cool, but let’s not kid ourselves. A 17 year old guard reclassing a year early is a terrible mistake. Here are five guards who did this and how it ended up.

Khristian Lander

247 sports composite ranking: 27th Overall prospect Five Stars.

College Stats (3 years) : 2.8 ppg, 0.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists on 31.2 percent shooting. Lander transferred from Indiana to Western Kentucky the prior year.

Derryck Thornton

247 sports composite ranking: 13th overall; Five Stars

College Stats (4 years): 7.9 ppg, 2.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists on 38.0 percent shooting. Thornton transferred after one year at Duke and played for USC for two years. He then grad transferred to Boston College where he had a better year for a very bad team. He now plays for the Leicester Riders in the British Basketball league.

Joey Baker

          247 sports composite ranking:33rd overall; Four Stars

College Stats (5 years): 4.5 ppg, 2.2 rebounds on 39.3 percent shooting and 38.3 percent from 3. Baker played four years at Duke before transferring to Michigan. He will now play for Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys of the Lithuanian Basketball League.

Devin Askew

247 sports composite ranking: 32nd overall; Four Stars

College Stats (3 years): 6.1 ppg, 1.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists on 37.0 percent shooting. Askew has played at three schools in three years. He played at Kentucky and Texas for his first two years. He then put up good numbers for Cal, who was one of the worst teams in the entire country. That team went 3-29.

Emoni Bates

247 sports composite ranking: 5th overall; 5 stars

College Stats (2 years): 15.6 ppg, 4.8 rebounds on 40.0 percent shooting. Emoni Bates was heralded as the best prospect since Lebron. After reclassing, all of his flaws came to light as a 17 year old playing against 22 year old men. Bates struggled at Memphis and transferred to Eastern Michigan. Bates put up solid numbers on a team that went 8-23. He ended up being picked 49th in the 2023 NBA draft to the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is no slouch of an achievement. However, if you compare it to the hype that was built for Bates, that is quite the drop.

Thank you for reading Armchair Illini. For more Illinois Athletics and Big Ten content from Armchair Illini, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.  For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Publisher at alexkyi13@gmail.com. Please use our Seatgeek code for 20$ off your purchase on Seatgeek.com: ARMCHAIRILLINOIS. It is because of your support that we have become one of the fastest-growing Illinois media outlets around!