Class of 2024 SF Naas Cunningham Puts UCLA Men's Basketball in Top 5

One of the highest-profile prospects in the country has made the Bruins a semifinalist in his recruitment.

Class of 2024 small forward Naas Cunningham cut his list down to five on Thursday, including UCLA men's basketball among his remaining contenders. Duke, Rutgers, Kansas and Memphis are the schools the Bruins will have to fend off in their recruitment of the Overtime Elite (GA) prospect.

Cunningham was also sitting on offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Bryant, Creighton, DePaul, Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas State, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico State, Seton Hall, St. John's, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and UConn, but those schools appear to be on the outside looking in for the time being.

2024 five-star Naas Cunningham is down to five schools: Duke, Kansas, Memphis, Rutgers, and UCLA.

He’s also scheduled a visit for next week: https://t.co/OVG7K9b4SB pic.twitter.com/OEzBfWc2gA
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) February 9, 2023

Cunningham told On3's Joe Tipton that he will take an unofficial visit to Memphis next week. UCLA, Duke and Rutgers have already hosted Cunningham on campus, while Kansas has yet to welcome him to Lawrence.

The Bruins offered Cunningham all the way back on Nov. 1, 2021, but Rutgers were the earliest entrant of his five finalists.

Cunningham is originally from New Jersey and went to Gill St. Bernard's High School (NJ), but he signed with Overtime Elite in April 2022. Despite playing in a professional league, Cunningham is on scholarship and retained his NCAA eligibility.

As a sophomore at Gill St. Bernard's, Cunningham averaged 13.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 block per game. In his debut season with Overtime Elite, Cunningham is averaging 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.4 blocks per game. Cunningham is only shooting 32.9% from deep this year, but the 6-foot-7 wing is shooting 85.4% from the free throw line.

Cunningham is a five-star prospect, according to 247Sports and Rivals, but he is a four-star in ESPN and On3's ratings. In the 247Sports Composite, Cunningham is ranked as the No. 1 player in Georgia, the No. 1 small forward in the country and the No. 5 overall prospect in his class.

UCLA has recruited the Mid-Atlantic region with some purpose over the past few cycles, as it has been a big target region for coach Mick Cronin and associate head coach Darren Savino since they were at Cincinnati. One of their three class of 2023 signees – four-star power forward Brandon Williams – is from New York, while five of their 16 class of 2024 offerrees come from either New York, New Jersey or Pennsylvania.

The Bruins got their first top-10 national commit when five-star guard Amari Bailey signed with the team last offseason, but Cunningham would be their first top-five addition since Lonzo Ball is 2016.

UCLA does not have a commit for its 2024 recruiting class at the moment. Four-star point guard Dedan Thomas has the Bruins in his top six, though, while four-star small forward Marcus Adams Jr. recently put them in his top five.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF NAAS CUNNINGHAM/INSTAGRAM