Not so fast? Braylon Mullins keeps Kentucky official visit ahead of fall decision

Giving up on Kentucky‘s chances of landing the best shooter in high school basketball? Not so fast.

Braylon Mullins is in the process of winding down his recruitment, taking an official visit to Indiana this weekend from Sept. 20-22 before participating in Coach Wootten’s Top 150 Camp from Sept. 27-29 out in Las Vegas. From there, he has canceled all remaining visits except for one, a source close to the four-star shooting guard tells KSR.

His trips to Duke (Oct. 4-6) and Tennessee (Oct. 18-20) are off while his official to Kentucky (Oct. 25-27) remains on the schedule. From there, the top-25 recruit will transition into decision mode ahead of the early signing period in November.

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Why is the planned trip to Lexington significant? It comes after some shakiness in his recruitment, specifically following five-star guard Jasper Johnson‘s commitment to Kentucky. Mullins’ father, Josh, previously told David Sisk of Cats Illustrated there were potential fit concerns and playing style overlaps that would have to be considered when moving forward with the Wildcats — if at all. Two dynamic shot-makers, was there room for both together?

“It is going to be hard. We want to see if him and Braylon can play together,” Mullins said last week. “… I just don’t know where everybody stands. Can Jasper and Braylon play together? I don’t know.”

Those concerns aligned with growing buzz surrounding UConn, the back-to-back champs emerging as a top contender to land Mullins’ commitment. Meanwhile, the Indiana Hoosiers are desperate to keep the Greenfield native home with Michigan and North Carolina also pushing.

It appeared Johnson’s commitment would send the four-star guard elsewhere in a one or the other scenario. Now? Mark Pope has circled back with Mullins’ camp about their potential fit together in the backcourt with the Kentucky staff in the process of scheduling a trip to see the standout shooter at Greenfield-Central HS this week, sources tell KSR.

“They are trying to figure it all out,” one source said. “… I still think it’s there.”

Kentucky was trending as a top contender and arguably the favorite to land Mullins prior to Johnson’s commitment, Pope and Cody Fueger leading the charge pushing their shot-friendly offense. It didn’t hurt adding the four-star guard’s AAU teammate with Indiana Elite, Malachi Moreno, who considers him one of his closest friends. The nation’s No. 1 overall center has made it abundantly clear he wants to suit up with Mullins in Lexington.

“There are not enough words to describe Braylon. That’s my best friend, the best shooter in the country,” Moreno told KSR. “He’s always getting better. There isn’t much other people can do that he can’t do. He does things you would think are out of the box — a fadeaway three from the corner, and it’ll be in the bottom of the net. You know what I mean? It’s just one of those things where I wouldn’t want him to play anywhere else. I want him to stick with me because we’ve prospered playing together so why wouldn’t we keep going?”

Likely? Maybe not — although one could argue it’s easier to smooth things over as a recent favorite than make up ground late in a situation like this. Either way, Kentucky’s chances aren’t dead quite yet as Pope makes it clear he plans to fight through the finish line in hopes of landing the best shooter in high school basketball.

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