Top-5 2022 Wing Chris Livingston Includes Georgetown in Top Four
It's down to Tennessee State, Kentucky, Memphis, and the Hoyas for the fifth-best player in the country.
Chris Livingston (Buchtel / Akron, OH), the fifth-ranked player in the Class of 2022 according to 247Sports, included Georgetown in his final four list of schools. The Hoyas joined Tennessee State, Memphis, and Kentucky as the schools that are left in contention for Livingston.
According to Joe Tipton of On3 Sports, Livingston is still considering the NBA G League as an option too.
Livingston, a 6-foot-7 wing from Akron, Ohio, has taken visits to Kentucky, Georgetown, and Tennessee State already. He is set to take a visit to Memphis from September 17-19.
Here’s a look at where each program stands in Livingston’s recruitment.
Georgetown
With Denver Anglin in the fold already in Georgetown’s 2022 class, the Hoyas have 1-2 spots left to fill for their 2022-23 team, meaning they will be very selective with who to go after for those few remaining spots left.
While things can always change, Hoyas are currently leading the race for 4-star local wing Christian Watson (St. John’s College HS / Washington, DC), and a commitment from Watson would likely leave them with one Chris Livingston-sized spot left to fill.
How perfect!
According to a source, the team plans to use that final spot to swing for the fences with Livingston. If they strike out there, will likely wait to evaluate the transfer market in the late spring for an impact player.
By all accounts, Livingston seemed to really enjoy his visit to Georgetown last month. His whole family joined him, including his grandparents, which seems notable. Does that mean the Hoyas have a real shot here? It can’t hurt.
“They’re really down to earth people that you feel you can relate to,” said Livingston in an interview with Jacob Polacheck of ZagsBlog.com. “They were just talking about how they can really get me to where I want to be. They really believe in me and they’re really nice people. Having a head coach like Patrick Ewing - he’s been where I want to be in life and he can really help me a lot.”
In a blog post penned by Livingston, via SI.com, he added, about his Georgetown visit:
“I recently went on a visit to Georgetown and had a great time with Coach Ewing. I loved the campus and the people there. All of the coaches looked like me and they were really easy to talk to. My grandfather really connected with Coach Orr too, so that was cool.”
“I know players that went there, and the environment was great. I really enjoyed myself on the visit.”
The major question for Georgetown is what they can offer Livingston off the court, in terms of NIL. On the court, the case for Georgetown is clear: Livingston can be The Guy from day one, teaming up with Aminu Mohammed and Jordan Riley in what would be an NCAA Tournament team and a top contender in the Big East.
Off the court, the Hoyas will need to show Livingston that he can profit off his name, image, and likeness. Because the other schools on his list are already throwing big numbers at him. The question here is, can Georgetown come even close to helping him identify similarly lucrative deals in the DMV? That remains to be seen.
Memphis
In terms of roster talent, Memphis is now the most attractive option for Chris Livingston, after the recent commitments of top-5 players Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates to the Tigers. Memphis now has the top-ranked 2021 recruiting class, and can sell Livingston on potentially playing alongside Bates in 2022, as Bates is not eligible to enter the NBA Draft until after the 2022-23 college season due to his age.
Bates could go pro after this coming season, but with NIL now in effect, Bates could likely earn more money staying at Memphis for a second year instead.
Livingston raised some eyebrows when he said the following about his relationship with Memphis in the recent ZagsBlog interview: “I haven’t heard a lot from them, but we have something scheduled.”
A little while after this comment was made, Rivals recruiting analyst Travis Graf also changed his FutureCast for Livingston to Memphis to ‘Unlikely’ after originally predicting the Tigers would be the pick. It seemed, at that point, that Memphis was falling out of the picture.
Since then, however, the Tigers appear to have renewed their pursuit of Livingston, and his official visit to their campus is still on.
Memphis has shown they can recruit with the best of them, and there are rumors of huge NIL deals being offered to the top recruits they are going after.
This article, from Kent Sterling, wonders if the NIL deals that are being arranged for players like Emoni Bates at Memphis are potentially violating the new NCAA NIL rules. The article reads, in part:
NIL money is reportedly going to flow toward prized recruit Emoni Bates as part of an agreement between the University of Memphis and FedEx, according to multiple reports from sources being retweeted often by fans of schools Bates spurned.
The NCAA bans any pay-for-play, as well as using NIL as a recruitment lever, so Memphis being complicit in a deal to funnel cash from FedEx to Bates – and fellow recruit Jalen Duren – would appear to qualify as a violation.
NIL is undoubtedly going to play a factor in Livingston’s decision. He said as much in the ZagsBlog interview, saying that NIL has “leveled the playing field” when it comes to deciding between going the college or pro route.
It’s also worth noting that Livingston said that Georgetown discussed NIL opportunities with him on his visit.
“Being out in Washington, D.C. with all those corporations and businesses out there, that could really help you along the way,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that came to mind that they brought to my attention – their play style and things like that. I think it’s real good.”
That’s good, because they’ll need to show they can at least come semi-close to the opportunities that Memphis appears ready to line up for him with NIL, if he were to commit to them.
With the financial figures that Memphis appears to be throwing out there related to NIL, and Penny Hardaway’s proven ability to land top-5 recruits, Memphis absolutely has to be considered a top contender here. That program has a lot of momentum going for it right now in the recruiting world.
Working against the Tigers, of course, is the fact that they play in the AAC. There’s also the fact that Penny Hardaway has yet to make an NCAA Tournament, despite playing in a weaker conference and consistently landing talented recruiting classes since he became the Tigers’ head coach.
Will that matter to Livingston, though, if he is pulling in a cool million dollars (possibly more!) in NIL deals? We’ll see.
Kentucky
Kentucky is currently putting the fullcourt press on new #1 overall 2022 recruit Shaedon Sharpe, who, at 6-foot-4, 175 pounds, would fit in nicely alongside Livingston at Kentucky. The Wildcats, as usual, are involved with several elite wing prospects, so it’s tough to say where exactly they stand with Livingston, who has taken an official visit there.
Livingston discussed his visit to Kentucky in an SI.com blog post from early July.
Well, geographically I love where it’s at because I have family in Kentucky and they were able to be with me on the visit. Coach (John) Calipari is a great person. You just wouldn’t think he’d be that cool because he’s a legend in basketball, but he’s very easy to talk to and just a guy you want to be around. Their plan is cool, he said the system doesn’t change but they change you to be ready for the next level. They’re all about preparation for the NBA there. They talked a lot about NIL a lot and what they’d have to offer there. I got to see them in practice and that was very intense. He really broke down to me how the dribble-drive offense works and how it would benefit me. Then the fanbase is probably the No. 1 with the effect they have on social media and in person. They love their basketball players there. The coaches really were on me hard telling me how bad they wanted me there. I enjoyed everything about it.
Kentucky presents a similar threat as Memphis does, in terms of recruiting ability, NIL opportunities, and roster talent. While there appears to be a bit less buzz for the Wildcats with Livingston, it would be silly to count them out.
Tennessee State
Aside from Makur Maker, we haven’t seen many cases of top recruits committing to an HBCU. Could Livingston break this trend, and commit to Tennessee State with his brother Cordell? Don’t rule it out.
Per a source with knowledge of Livingston’s thinking, the NIL deal signed by TSU player Hercy Miller, son of hip-hop icon Master P, is something that is very attractive to Livingston, and is leading to him giving serious thought to choosing Tennessee State.
Miller signed a four-year brand ambassador deal worth $2 million with technology company Web Apps America this summer, and Tennessee State is using that deal and its price tag as proof for Livingston that the NIL opportunities at TSU are similarly lucrative to those that exist at bigger schools like Memphis and Kentucky.
Livingston took an official visit to Tennessee State last weekend with his brother. The Tigers are reportedly saying they can get Livingston enough NIL money for both him and his brother. Sheesh.
Despite Tennessee State selling Livingston on the allure of playing for an HBCU and the possibility of big bucks in the NIL space, it would still be a surprise to see him commit to the Tigers when he can get more exposure playing in bigger conferences against better competition, and with potentially better NIL opportunities as well. But make no mistake about it, Livingston including TSU isn’t just for show. They are a legitimate option.
With a month and a half to go until Livingston announces his decision, it’s hard to get a clear read on which way he is leaning.
Memphis appeared to be in the lead for Livingston early, and he appeared to be a Memphis lean as recently as this spring. But it appears they pulled back this summer as they focused on reeling in Duren and Bates. We know that because Livingston said so, when he said he hadn’t been hearing from them as much.
But he clearly is still interested in the school, as he is still planning on taking his visit there. With Duren and Bates in the fold now, Memphis now looks to be renewing their efforts for Livingston. That’s not helpful for the Hoyas’ chances.
At the same time, Livingston also seemed to genuinely enjoy his visit to Georgetown, and appears to have formed a strong connection with the coaching staff, especially Patrick Ewing and Louis Orr. Could that connection be enough to sway him? Will Georgetown be able to offer NIL opportunities that are up to par with what Livingston is being presented by the other schools on his list? It’s a huge question mark.
This recruitment essentially comes down to if Livingston wants to join a frontrunner/blue blood-type like Memphis or Kentucky, or if he wants to chart his own path, and create his own legacy at a school such as Georgetown or Tennessee State. It will be interesting to see which path he goes down.