Chicago Bulls forward Trentyn Flowers (00) looks on during the second half at United Center. Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
By Sean Keeley on

There was a brief time when it appeared that Trentyn Flowers would play college basketball. However, he decommitted from Louisville in 2023 to sign with the Adelaide 36ers of Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL). In 2024, he declared for the 2024 NBA draft but went unselected. He went on to sign a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Clippers and their G League affiliate in San Diego. This year, he’s been a two-way player with the Chicago Bulls and their G League affiliate.

On Saturday, Joe Tipton of On3 Sports reported that Flowers was drawing interest from several top college basketball programs, including Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan, Indiana, Florida, and LSU. That report was met with widespread shock, considering Flowers has played NBA minutes over the last two seasons. The rules governing how Flowers could play college basketball despite having played professionally for the past three seasons are murky enough to make the move entirely possible.

However, according to CBS Sports college basketball writer Matt Norlander, at least five of the programs listed in Tipton’s report have shown no interest in recruiting Flowers.

“FWIW, while some might be sniffing around, at least three programs named in this report tell CBS Sports they’ve shown ‘zero’ interest in pursuing Flowers,” wrote Norlander in a Sunday quote of the On3 post. “One adds: ‘Not even sure how we got on that list. No one on our staff has had any contact with anyone associated with him.'”

Norlander followed that up with two updates.

“Just received another text from another coach at one of the schools reported to be showing interest in Trentyn Flowers’ NCAA eligibility,” he wrote. “The head coach’s response: ‘Hahaha. None.'”

Soon after Norlander’s reporting, Tipton updated his own reporting to say that Florida, Michigan, Clemson, Indiana, and Texas Tech were no longer expected to be involved.

College basketball insider Adam Zagoria then quoted Tipton’s update to add that Kentucky was “not expected to be in the mix for Trentyn Flowers” as well.

Tipton provided an update on Flowers’ potential college recruitment, though the revised report was behind a paywall.

Given how quickly the initial report appeared to fall apart under scrutiny from other insiders and reporters, coupled with the lack of public-facing explanations for why it appeared incorrect, there was considerable criticism directed at On3 from college basketball media and personnel.

Awful Announcing has reached out to Tipton for any further clarification about the reporting.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.

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