2025 four-star guard Jerry Easter has had a strong start to the Nike EYBL season, averaging 19.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 29.8 minutes per contest through three sessions — the latest in front of coaches during the first live period of the spring.
Standing 6-4, 200 pounds, the Toledo, OH native is strong and physical with a college-ready frame, putting those tools on full display in Indianapolis.
Among the coaches in attendance seeing what Easter has to offer playing for Team Final, the former EYBL program of Justin Edwards? Kentucky‘s Mark Pope with associate head coach Alvin Brooks III also courtside for the top-30 prospect.
The Wildcat staff let Easter know going into the weekend they’d be checking him out, and he noticed they kept their word.
“They’ve just been watching me, seeing how I’m doing. I’ve just wanted to show them I’m a hard worker and I just like to win,” he told KSR. “I hate losing, I hate when I have bad games.
I’ve just got to have a short-term memory, go to the next one. I just want to show them that even on bad days, I can come back stronger the next game and the game after that.”
Kentucky wasn’t the only school in attendance, obviously. With thousands of coaches in attendance and a top-30 prospect taking the floor, you can bet the seats will be full of heavy hitters.
“Oregon, Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Michigan State, Baylor, USC, UCLA, Memphis, Miami — I wish I could remember them all off the top of my head because I don’t want to miss any,” Easter said of the schools recruiting him the hardest right now and among those he noticed watched him throughout the weekend.
Two that got him on campus for official visits recently? The Yellow Jackets and Ducks.
“My first visit to Georgia Tech, that one was good with Coach Stoudamire. That was a good one,” Easter said. “He’s a new coach, he came from the NBA and develops point guards. I like that and I feel like he’d develop me if I went there.”
“Oregon, Coach (Brian) Fish, he’s been recruiting me with Coach (Dana) Altman,” he added. “When I visited there, I liked the environment.
It was like a big family because I was there before they went to the Pac-12 Tournament, I was tuned in all the way through till they won it.
They stuck together and it was a big family. Everybody supported them there and that’s what I really like, especially those facilities. It’s the headquarters of Nike and you can’t go wrong with that.”
Any others potentially on the table?
“I’m trying to set one up with Baylor, maybe with Koa Peat — I’m trying to take an official visit with him,” Easter said. “I don’t know yet, but that’s up there.
And Miami in September with Ohio State and Michigan State sometime during the school year. Those are the schools I’ve got so far.
Where does Kentucky fit into the mix? The 6-5 guard hopes things ramp up after an impressive showing in Indianapolis and to open AAU season. That was a school that caught his attention as a kid and he likes what he’s seen out of Mark Pope early.
“I know the new coach that is there, and honestly, I know a lot about Kentucky since even before Coach Cal. Kentucky, Lexington, I’ve heard a lot of good things,” Easter told KSR.
“They come out and support, they really support their teams and I like that environment. I like big crowds — I’m used to that in my hometown. You can’t go wrong with Kentucky.
