3-star '23 small forward Jordan Burks commits to Kentucky

A sixth freshman will join Kentucky men’s basketball for the 2023-24 season.

On Monday morning, three-star class of 2023 small forward Jordan Burks announced his commitment to the Wildcats on the Paper Route podcast with I Am Athlete. The 6-9 forward out of Decatur, AL led Overtime Elite’s Hillcrest Prep this past season in scoring with 27.1 points on 46.7% shooting, 26.7% from three, and 67% at the line. He also added 7.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.4 steals per contest.

“I’ve always been big on Kentucky because of the atmosphere and the culture,” Burks said in UK’s press release. “I’ve been watching since I was a kid and seeing all of the players develop and progress into pros and compete for titles every year made this a place I wanted to play at.

“I wanted to play with the top players in the country at the top basketball school in the country and develop my game under Coach Calipari, while working every day to win the national championship. I want to help this team win a national championship and create a bond with my teammates on and off the court. I want to prepare myself to be in the best shape and be the most productive I can be for this team.”

A former Ole Miss commit, Burks is considered the No. 172 overall prospect from the ’23 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He’s coming off an official visit to UK June 4-6. Burks chose the ‘Cats over the likes of Florida and Miami (FL).

Kentucky had been trending as the favorite to land Burks for a couple of weeks now. He’s a skinny wing prospect but one with impressive length who can score in bunches from anywhere on the floor. The dribble-drive system that head coach John Calipari employs should suit him well.

“He’s a competitor, he’s tough,” Hillcrest Prep head coach Nick Weaver told Jacob Polcacheck of KSR+. “He’s a prolific scorer. He can score from all three levels. He proved that pretty well last year. Anytime you need a bucket, he’s a guy that can get you a bucket.” 

According to KSR’s Jack Pilgrim, Burks has already signed his national letter of intent with the ‘Cats and moved to campus on Sunday.

“Jordan has good size and has the ability to be a prolific scorer,” Calipari said in UK’s press release. “His length allows him to play multiple positions, be dynamic in the open court, rebound at both ends and he can put it on the floor and score in a variety of ways. Jordan has challenged himself against the best of the best and wanted to continue to be pushed at the next level. I really love his toughness and his upside is tremendous, and that his dream since he was young was to play at Kentucky! I’m looking forward to getting in the gym and helping him take his game to new levels.”

Burks joins a six-man recruiting class for Calipari that also includes five-stars DJ Wagner, Justin Edwards, and Aaron Bradshaw along with four-stars Robert Dillingham and Reed Sheppard. Kentucky is also in the running to land three-star guard Joey Hart and class of 2024 center Somto Cyril.

Welcome to the Big Blue Nation, Jordan.

More freshmen on the way?

Kentucky could also be on the verge of landing even more incoming freshmen. Four-star class of 2024 center Somto Cyril visited Kentucky late last week. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound native of Nigeria is a candidate to reclassify to the class of 2023 and is already eligible to immediately enroll at college. Cyril is a former OTE teammate with Dillingham.

Three-star shooting guard Joey Hart out of Linton (IN) Linton-Stockton is also trending towards landing with the ‘Cats. The 6-foot-5 sharpshooter visited Kentucky over the weekend. Hart, previously committed to Central Florida, recently wrapped up an official visit to Indiana earlier last week, but Kentucky is in good shape heading down the home stretch.