A new top prospect has become a free agent in the 2024 NCAA Basketball recruiting class in somewhat of a surprise. Kanon Catchings is a 6’9 combo forward from Brownsburg, Indiana and was the top player in Purdue’s original 6-man recruiting class. He’s an athletic playmaker who can operate on the perimeter and has all-around potential on both ends.

Catchings, a four-star prospect who is a consensus top-50 player, is now the highest-rated available prospect in the 2024 class. And with there being limited power conference options in the transfer portal, look for teams to try to target him. Here’s a list of nine programs that may try to get into the picture.

The Razorbacks make sense simply because they still have the most open room among power conference teams, with four spots available. So if Catchings is truly a top-40 caliber player, he should be able to get meaningful minutes for a freshman and potentially be the next player Coach Calipari sends to the pros. They do have a pair of top-40 wings in the freshmen class (Karter Knox and Billy Richmond) to contend with but there’s plenty of room at the four-spot available to make it work.

A connection with the new coaching staff could very well have the Cougars in the mix here, even after landing top-tier international prospect, Egor Demin. There’s room on the wings with Jaxson Robinson now at Kentucky and Catchings could very well start here and potentially be a focal point of the offense out of the gate.

As I mentioned before, several Big Ten teams were after Catchings in the past and could try again. That includes Illinois, a team with a rebuilt roster that lost its two high-quality wings, Marcus Domask and Terrence Shannon Jr. They did add 6’9 transfer forward Ben Humrichous from Evansville and have Ty Rodgers returning but Catchings may have the higher ceiling and could get into the rotation early for a team that could use his offensive potential.