Cason Wallace named to Nike Hoop Summit Team; knocked out of Texas HS tournament

Cason Wallace‘s name has been in the news the last couple of days — for both good and bad reasons.

Let’s start with the good, though. On Monday, the five-star incoming Kentucky commit was tabbed to the 2022 USA Nike Hoop Summit Team, which is returning after a two-year, COVID-19-induced hiatus. Under the guidance of the USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team Committee, they named 12 of the country’s top high school recruits to represent their country against international competition, with Wallace making the cut.

Wallace, who is considered the No. 5 overall player from the class of 2022, is the only future Wildcat who made the roster, which will go head-to-head in April against the top U19 teams across the globe. Fellow Kentucky commits, Chris Livingston and Skyy Clark, did not make the roster.

The Nike Hoop Summit will return for the first time since 2019, taking place at the Moda Center in Portland, OR starting on April 8.

The Nike Hoop Summit is back this year and the USA roster is LOADED 🤩🚨

Amari Bailey
Gradey Dick
Kyle Filipowski
Keyonte George
Dereck Lively II
Dillion Mitchell
Nick Smith Jr.
Kel’el Ware
Dariq Whitehead
Jarace Walker
Cason Wallace
Cam Whitmore

— SLAM HS Hoops (@SLAM_HS) March 1, 2022

2022 USA Nike Hoop Summit Team

Dereck Lively – Duke
Dariq Whitehead – Duke
Kyle Filiposwki – Duke
Nick Smith Jr. – Arkansas
Kel’el Ware – Oregon
Amari bailey – UCLA
Gradey Dick – Kansas
Keyonte George – Baylor
Dillon Mitchell – Texas
Jarace Walker – Houston
Cason Wallace – Kentucky
Cam Whitmore – Villanova

Now for the not-so-good news. Wallace’s high school career came to a thrilling yet unfortunate end on Tuesday night in the Texas boy’s high school basketball tournament. His Richardson team, which came into the game ranked No. 1 in the country, according to MaxPreps, fell 54-52 on a game-winning bucket against McKinney High School. SMU commit and three-star recruit, Alex Anamekwe, hit the clutch shot with just 1.3 seconds left on the clock to ut McKinney in front for good.

UNREAL.

SMU signee Alex Anamekwe puts McKinney up 54-52 with 1.3 seconds left in the game.

Holy smokes. @SportsDayHS @MHSLionsHoops pic.twitter.com/2owO8hlTsz

— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) March 2, 2022

Wallace was the one who nearly saved the game for Richardson, actually, blocking the shot of four-star junior Ja’Kobe Walter with under five seconds left on the clock. However, the ball bounced perfectly to Anamekwe, who quickly put a shot back up at the rim to steal the win. With the loss, Richardson and Wallace were knocked out of the quarterfinal round while McKinney moves on to the semifinals. He still finished with 20 points, but his high school career at Richardson has come to a close.