UK basketball was once a leader in Braylon Mullins’ recruitment. See where he committed.

Earlier this year, Kentucky basketball was viewed as one of the leaders in the recruitment of Braylon Mullins, a top shooting guard in the 2025 recruiting class.

Mullins — a 6-foot-5 backcourt shooting dynamo from Indiana — was significantly pursued by new UK coach Mark Pope and the Wildcats this spring and summer. But after including UK in a list of his top 10 schools, Mullins cut Kentucky from consideration in September when he narrowed his recruitment to three potential college options.

On Wednesday night, Mullins — who is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a five-star recruit and the No. 23 overall prospect in the 2025 class — announced his college commitment to UConn, the two-time defending national champions.

Mullins announced his commitment to the Huskies during a live-streamed event on the 247Sports YouTube page.

Mullins is now the third commitment for Dan Hurley and the Huskies in the 2025 recruiting class. Also committed to play college basketball in Storrs next season are five-star shooting guard Darius Adams and four-star center Eric Reibe. Adams is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 19 overall prospect in the 2025 class, while Reibe is ranked as the No. 33 recruit in next year’s class.

A standout performer on the Adidas grassroots circuit this spring and summer, Mullins’ recruitment ballooned into a true blueblood battle. But, Duke, Kansas and Kentucky were among the schools that failed to make the cut when Mullins trimmed his list of potential colleges to three.

The fact Kentucky didn’t at least make the final group of Mullins’ college contenders was a surprise, especially given where the Cats were in his recruitment earlier this year.

During the summer, 247Sports national analyst Travis Branham told the Herald-Leader Kentucky was “increasingly becoming more and more of a factor” for Mullins, who is good friends and AAU teammates with center Malachi Moreno, the Great Crossing High School star who committed to UK in August.

Considered an elite 3-point shooter, Mullins was measured by Synergy Sports as the fifth-most efficient player on offense during the Adidas grassroots season with Indiana Elite. Mullins made 80 jump shots for Indiana Elite during the Adidas grassroots season, which was the third-most among all players in the 17-and-under age group. Mullins averaged 18.9 points per game and 1.1 points per possession on that circuit this year.

He picked up a Kentucky basketball scholarship offer from Pope in June while Mullins was on an unofficial visit at UK. Mullins was supposed to be one of several five-star recruits who visited Kentucky this fall.

Mullins had an official visit planned to Kentucky that would have started Friday, but that trip was scrapped when he cut UK from consideration.

Why did Kentucky fall out of favor with Mullins?

At least part of this answer appears related to the potential playing fit between Mullins and five-star guard Jasper Johnson, the former Woodford County star who committed to Kentucky in early September. Around the time Mullins cut his college list from 10 to three schools, recruiting discourse was centered on how Mullins and Johnson would play together, fueled by comments made by Mullins’ father to David Sisk of Rivals.

With Mullins out of the recruiting picture, Kentucky has solidified its strong recruiting lead with another class of 2025 guard, four-star prospect Acaden Lewis from Washington, D.C.

Lewis was the top Kentucky basketball visitor for Big Blue Madness earlier this month, and he’s currently working with a final three list of schools that includes Duke, Kentucky and UConn, although UK is viewed as the clear leader.

Kentucky’s 2025 recruiting class is currently comprised of the aforementioned Johnson and Moreno, two prospects with strong ties to the commonwealth.

Duke, Kentucky and UConn are the only three schools with commitments from multiple class of 2025 prospects who are ranked in the top 25 of the 247Sports Composite rankings. The Blue Devils and Huskies each have three commits from the 2025 class who are ranked in the top 35 of the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Lewis, who has received a projection from Branham to commit to UK, is ranked as the No. 36 overall player in the 2025 class.

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