Leftovers from KSR's trip to adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championship

The adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championship wrapped up on Sunday (and the Nike EYBL Peach Jam tournament is fully underway with KSR on location), but I’ve got a couple more topics to touch on before putting the final bow on my trip to Rock Hill, SC.

If you missed any of the content we’ve already published from our time in Rock Hill (KSR’s Brandon Ramsey was pumping out evaluations all week), you can get up to date through the links below.

• 4-star C Malachi Moreno schedules official visit to Kentucky
• 5-star SF Nate Ament talks Mark Pope, Kentucky: ‘It’s kinda hard not to like what he’s showing me right now.’
• 4-star PG Tay Kinney racking up offers, expects to visit Kentucky soon
• 4-star Louisville native Kaden Magwood talks Kentucky, updates recruitment
• Top 10 2026 prospect Ikenna Alozie — friends with DJ Wagner — is on Kentucky’s radar
• 4-star 2026 SG Adam Oumiddoch ‘interested’ in Kentucky as recruitment heats up
• 4-star 2026 SF Dean Rueckert has ‘good relationship’ with new Kentucky staff
• Adidas 3SSB Championships – Evaluations of Kentucky Targets (2025)
• Adidas 3SSB Championships – Evaluations of Kentucky Targets (2026)

Now let’s dive into our final leftovers from the adidas 3SSB Championship.

Kentucky was Winters Grady’s ‘dream school’

Typically, whenever the term “dream school” is tossed around, it doesn’t end well for the school in question. Or at least that’s been the case for the Wildcats. Kentucky has been referred to as a “dream school” by dozens of recruits over the last decade-plus, but the hit rate of actually securing a commitment — for whatever reason — has always been oddly low.

Will that trend continue with Winters Grady?

“(Kentucky) reached out once or twice before this live period and after (NBPA) Top 100, but it seems like nothing serious right now,” Grady told KSR. “I would definitely enjoy to ramp that up a little bit, it was my dream school growing up.”

Let’s step back for a second first. Grady is rated No. 67 overall in the 2025 class by the On3 Industry Ranking but could see a significant increase in that ranking by the next update. He was one of the top performers in Rock Hill for Jalen Green Elite. I got to watch arguably his best outing of the entire event: a 36-point (12-19 FG, 6-9 3PT) showing where the 6-foot-6, 200-pound wing was getting buckets from all over the floor.

Winters Grady ended 3SSB with a BANG! A profiling player who’s name will rise on the national charts even more after this weekend 📈 @WintersGrady_ @JalenGreenElite @3SSBCircuit pic.twitter.com/djP6vqQgrk

— SIMPLY BASKETBALL (@simplyy_bball) July 15, 2024

Grady has four officials on the docket to New Mexico (August 24), Oklahoma (Oct. 12), Oregon (Oct. 12), and Michigan (TBD). He says he’ll likely take 5-6 officials total — meaning a couple more schools could jump into that group — with plans to narrow down his list of top schools “one or two weeks after Rock Hill.”

Along with the schools he’s set to visit, Grady has pulled in additional offers from the likes of Washington, Arizona State, Clemson, California, Xavier, Louisville, Iowa, Creighton, Southern California, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Wisconsin, LSU, and more. Kentucky has yet to pull the trigger on a scholarship for the Oregon native but could sneak into the mix if they make a more aggressive push.

“We would have to see what happens but I definitely would always be wanting to hear (Kentucky) out,” Grady said.

A list cut is coming soon. It’ll be interesting to see if Kentucky cracks it or not.

Jon Sanderson (Tay Kinney’s teammate) is on the rise

Kentucky has yet to start seriously poking around with Jon Sanderson, a 2026 guard ranked No. 44 overall by the On3 Industry Ranking, but assistant coach Cody Fueger saw him in action multiple times in Rock Hill. Sanderson is backcourt teammates on Wildcat Select 16U with Tay Kinney, a top 2026 recruit for Kentucky and a native of the Bluegrass State.

Fueger was courtside for three Wildcat Select 16U games throughout the week to watch Kinney, but it was impossible not to notice the skillset that Sanderson (a 6-foot-2 point guard) brings as well. The talented duo forms arguably the top 16U backcourt on the adidas circuit.

“I feel like when you watch us play, we feed off each other,” Sanderson told KSR about his pairing with Kinney. “He gets his, I get mine, but at the end of the day, we’re getting ours from each other. Playing with him is just fun.”

6’3 4⭐️ 2026 Jonathan Sanderson showing why he’s one of the top guards in the class‼️🔥📈

– Athletic, tough + highly-skilled
– Versatile, can play on or off the ball
– Competitive + makes winning plays
– Shoots the hell out of the ball off the bounce or catch #WildcatFam #3SSB pic.twitter.com/qWR28JfEvj

— Wildcat Select (@wildcatselect) May 30, 2024

Sanderson has taken several unofficial visits already to Indiana, Illinois, Xavier, Ohio State, Virginia, Iowa, Purdue, and Notre Dame with more to come this fall. That being said, he says he has no top list of schools at this time. Of note, his father was recently named the director of men’s basketball performance at Vanderbilt after a long stint at Michigan. The Commodores offered him in June.

Again, Kentucky has yet to officially contact him personally. And it might be too early with 2026s to know exactly who UK is prioritizing anyway. He’d be interested if they did though.

“I would love to get a call from Kentucky,” Sanderson added.