When the 2027 direct contact period officially began in June, top 30 guard Beckham Black was one of the handful of recruits that the Kentucky staff expressed interest in. Black, originally from Duncanville, TX, will be playing at Southeastern Prep in Orlando, FL next season. The 6-3 guard spoke with Kentucky Wildcats on SI to update his recruitment.

As a Texas native, Black has received plenty of interest with programs like Texas, TCU, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech, but there has been a lot of recent buzz with him and USC, given head coach Eric Musselman coached his brother, Anthony, at Arkansas, although Black said he has yet to hear from John Calipari and Arkansas. The Trojans have been on him pretty hard. When asked if proximity to home will be a factor in his decision, Black says ‘it feels good’ to be recruited by Texas schools, but it won’t become a deciding factor. As for schools recruiting him the hardest, Black didn’t single out any specific schools, saying the contact has been ‘pretty even’ with all of the schools that are recruiting him.

As far as his relationship with Kentucky goes, he is maintaining consistent contact with his lead recruiter Mikhail McLean. “It’s been good. (McLean is) Just telling me some stuff about the school, just getting to know him, telling me about some of the history of the school. So just, building relationships.” Black also seems to be a big fan of a fast-paced playing style, which is one of the key components of Mark Pope’s offense, saying, “I definitely like to play fast. So whatever college I do choose, that will be one of the things, just playing fast.” The 6-3 guard did admit he didn’t watch much college basketball at all last season, but it seems like Pope’s type of offense really intrigues him.

Right now, given his recruitment being in the very early stages, the four-star guard isn’t too worried about narrowing down a list of schools anytime soon, and more so focused on building relationships with all of the schools after him and staying patient while other schools continue to join the fold. “I’ll definitely say I have a pretty good relationship (with the schools). You know, all of the schools are pretty consistent with reaching out. So just, just building relationships. …Right now, I’m really just focused on building relationships with some of the coaches at the schools.” What is Black looking for in a school? “I would just say competitive practices,” he said. “I just feel like that’s that’s always a good way to get better, always competing, and then the a good coaching staff who knows what I’m trying to do, know what we’re trying to do as a team, and just overall a winning school.”

Black says a few of the newest programs to get involved are UConn and Gonzaga, both of which he has heard from recently. The top 30 prospect visited both Arkansas and USC last season, where he attended a game at each program, but Black also says he is scheduled to visit SMU on August 2.