Bryce Hopkins recruiting Illinois transfer Adam Miller to Kentucky

Buzz has been growing louder regarding mutual interest between Kentucky and Illinois transfer Adam Miller, a former four-star guard prospect in the class of 2020.

After Eric Bossi and Matt Howe of 247Sports listed UK as a potential destination for the 6-foot-3 guard out of Peoria, IL this week, former Indiana player A.J. Guyton sent out a tweet Saturday morning indicating that Kentucky may be a serious contender in Miller’s recruitment.

“DePaul, Kentucky, Michigan and several others have been tossed around as possible destinations,” 247Sports reported, “but he’s another who has been pretty quiet since deciding to transfer.”

“Adam Miller to Kentucky, hmmm that’s interesting!” Guyton said in the since-deleted tweet. “Good luck young fella!”

To make things even more interesting, sources told KSR early Saturday morning that Miller has been working out with Kentucky signee and Oak Park, IL native Bryce Hopkins in recent weeks, with the two sharing a trainer.

In a follow-up conversation with the four-star forward’s father, Clyde Hopkins, not only did he confirm that the two have been working out together in Illinois, but added that the Kentucky signee is recruiting the Fighting Illini standout to Lexington.

“Yeah I was actually in the gym with him last week, him and Adam,” Hopkins told KSR early Saturday afternoon. “They were working out together and competing. You know, Bryce did talk to him – I don’t know the details – but he did talk to Adam, trying to get him to come down to Kentucky.”

Needless to say, it’s a move the Kentucky signee’s father hopes comes to fruition. With the two already developing chemistry with one another, Hopkins feels it’d be a seamless fit and easy transition.

“It’ll be a good move for him, I think,” Hopkins said. “He and Bryce are becoming really close, so I’d like to see him come down and be a part of the team, if possible.”

When it comes to Miller’s game, Hopkins says the standout freshman has plenty more in his bag of tools he wasn’t necessarily able to show at Illinois in year one.

“I’ve been watching Adam since his freshman year (of high school), I really like his game. Very versatile,” Hopkins told KSR. “He wasn’t able to show a lot of it this year down at (Illinois). He can handle the ball really well, he can shoot it, just a very versatile combo guard.”

John Calipari and the UK coaching staff have worked to keep recruiting moves under wraps this offseason, but they’ve made it fairly clear they are looking to put last season behind them and reload going into 2021-22.

Adding a player of Miller’s caliber would certainly help that.

“We haven’t talked too much about the guys they’re bringing in, but me and Coach Cal have been texting back and forth,” Hopkins said. “He was just saying he’s very excited for Bryce to get there and start coaching him. He’s just putting this past year behind him, obviously wasn’t happy with how the season turned out.”

Listed as the No. 33 overall prospect in the 2020 247Sports Composite Rankings, the freshman guard averaged 8.3 points and 2.8 rebounds in 25.5 minutes per contest, shooting 34% from three on 4.9 attempts from deep per game. Playing for Illinois, a one-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and a top-five team throughout the season, the true freshman had 13 double-digit scoring performances. His biggest outings came in a 28-point performance against North Carolina A&T in his college debut, an 18-point performance against Nebraska, and 14-point outings against Minnesota, Northwestern and No. 21 Ohio State.

Miller is considered the No. 7 available transfer by both 247Sports and The Athletic, with KSR’s own Aaron Torres listing the 6-foot-3 guard as the No. 4 available target in his latest transfer rankings.