Arizona recruiting target MarJon Beauchamp says he'll skip college to join a training program in 2020-21, joining several top players who have avoided NCAA basketball in recent years.
The five-star wing from Seattle, who is transferring to Glendale Dream City this season, said Thursday on Twitter that he will join Cameleon BX, a new San Francisco-based program that aims to train top high school graduates for life on and off the court in the NBA.
Today, I'm excited to formally announce my decision to prepare for the 2021 NBA Draft, training with @Chameleonbx in 2020. Although I'm humbled by the many offers I received from elite D1 Colleges, the personalized Chameleon BX program is the best option to get my game NBA-ready. pic.twitter.com/XMVKn1wOAS
— MarJon Beauchamp (@Marjon32) August 1, 2019
Already, players such as former UA signee Terry Armstrong, LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton have joined Australia's "Next Stars" program in a trend the NCAA may like, while the G League has announced a plan to offer "select" prospects $125,000 for spending a post-graduate year in the NBA's developmental league.
Beauchamp's early decision, however, will save Arizona and other college coaches time in recruiting him.
In fact, the UA staff may already have had an idea Beauchamp was heading in that direction. On July 13 in Hoover, Ala., Beauchamp and fellow UA target Dalen Terry were playing on adjacent courts in the Adidas Summer Championships -- yet there were three UA coaches watching Terry and none watching Beauchamp. (Terry committed to the Wildcats last week).
Beauchamp told the Star after that game that he was considering Arizona, Alabama, ASU and Oregon State while also keeping touch with Washington.
The Huskies recruited Beauchamp when Lorenzo Romar was the Huskies' coach, and Beauchamp said he became interested in Arizona when Romar was the Wildcats' associate head coach in 2017-18. Romar left after that season to become head coach at Pepperdine.
Noting that "coach Sean Miller is still there and I have a good relationship with him, too," Beauchamp said he planned to visit UA after relocating to the Phoenix area this month.
