MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Four star recruit and the #1 high school player in the state of West Virginia, Braydon Hawthorne, has made his decision on where he will play college basketball next season.
Hawthorne, a 6’9 190 pound forward from Beckley, West Virginia, is ranked as the #1 player in West Virginia in the 2025 class and 33rd best recruit in the nation, and initially chose West Virginia over offers from Ohio, Pepperdine, Old Dominion, Florida Gulf Coast, Mount St. Mary´s and several others. However, when former WVU head coach Darian DeVries left to become the new head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, Hawthorne de-committed and decided to re-open his recruitment. During his second recruitment, Hawthrone was pursued by some of the top programs in the nation, including Kentucky, Duke, Virginia Tech and Pitt.
Moments ago, Hawthorne made his commitment announcement live on 247 Sports’ YouTube channel from the Salvation Army Armory in Beckley, West Virginia. Unfortunately, Hawthorne announced that he has decided to play for the Kentucky Wildcats next season.
Hawthorne averaged 22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists per game for Huntington Prep as a senior this season and was nominated for the McDonald’s All-American game.
Hawthrone has been a major priority for the Mountaineers; he isn’t just the best player in the state of West Virginia, he is also potentially a Top 50 overall player in the nation and a potential 5 star recruit. Players like Hawthorne don’t come along often in the state of West Virginia. In fact, he is the highest rated high school recruit born in the state in a very long time.
West Virginia reportedly offered more money than Kentucky, Duke and Pitt, and were able to give Hawthorne immediate playing time and the opportunity to represent his home state. Unfortunately, Hawthorne likely chose Kentucky because they offer him the best chance of developing and getting him ready for the NBA. Kentucky has one of the best traditions in college basketball and has a long history of putting players in the NBA.
