Report: Kentucky's Shaedon Sharpe Declares for 2022 NBA Draft; Projected Lottery Pick

Kentucky shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe is set to declare for the NBA draft.

According to Shams Charania and Kyle Tucker of The Athletic, Sharpe plans to remain in the draft after entering, meaning his collegiate career would be over before ever playing a game for the Wildcats.

A mock draft released last week by Bleacher Report NBA draft expert Jonathan Wasserman projected that Sharpe will go seventh overall to the Kings.

After graduating early from Dream City Christian High School in Arizona, Sharpe decided to attend the University of Kentucky.

In 2022-23, the plan was for Sharpe to make his debut with the team. Both sides stayed the course despite speculation that Sharpe would play at some point during the campaign.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari insisted throughout most of the process that Sharpe would be back in 2022-23 to play for the Cats, but things changed along the way.

Initially, it was thought that he wouldn't be eligible to enter the NBA draft in 2022, but reports later surfaced that he would be allowed to enter the class of 2022.

Instead of trying to help Kentucky return to the top of college basketball next season, it appears as though Sharpe will try to establish himself as one of the top rookies in the NBA.

When he committed to Kentucky, he was ranked as the 3rd overall player and the 1st shooting guard in the class.

According to Eric Bossi, who is a recruiting evaluator for 247Sports, Sharpe was compared to a Chicago Bulls star, and he projected that he would be a first-round pick in the NBA.

A growing number of Canada-born stars in the NBA will be joined by Sharpe when he is drafted.