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As if, boom, a player just decides to accelerate the path to an NBA career by deciding to skip a grade, then more quickly picks a college to make an intermediate stop, while the rest figures itself out.

Attending the prom appears optional, too.

But Adan Diggs, the UA recruiting target from Phoenix's West Valley who announced last month he will reclassify from 2028 to 2027, knows it is more than that.

He knows it every time he logs on to a college-provided set of courses that will give him the credits to graduate from Goodyear Millennium High School next spring instead of in 2028.

“It’s definitely — definitely — a lot. It’s a lot,� Diggs said between games at the Section 7 recruiting showcase last weekend. “It’s every subject. I enjoy doing math. That’s easy for me. I don’t like English at all. But I gotta do what I gotta do.�

He’ll be doing it all year. Diggs said he is plowing through some coursework this summer on top of EYBL ball with the Vegas Elite club and will also layer it on to his senior-year courses at Millennium in the fall. That gives him a heavy load all the way until next spring.

“Academically, it’s been different,� Diggs said.

Athletically, it hasn’t been nearly as much of a reach. Born in September 2008, meaning he'll be 18 for nearly all of next season, Diggs was initially headed toward a high school graduation in 2027 before he earlier reclassified in the other direction to better help his chances to succeed in his initial sport, football.

“Then I became a basketball player and I realized if I keep going the way I'm going, on the path I'm going on, I could reclass back up to my original grade, and show everybody what I’m about," Diggs said.

He’s already doing plenty of that. Reclassifying to 2027 actually moved Diggs up the recruiting rankings from seventh in 2027 to fourth in 2028, according to 247 Sports.

Diggs has the physique of a rising high school senior already, an athletic and skilled 6-5 frame that allows him to drive and create shots for himself or others, while 247's Eric Bossi wrote that he’s “improving rapidly as a threat from downtown.�

He’s so effective that Millennium coach Rich Thornton isn’t too concerned about whatever rankings or high school class Diggs is tied to. After a Millennium game in February, when Diggs was then the seventh-rated player in 2028, Thornton said: “There’s not six guys better than him, I can tell you that right now.�

And now?

“I still feel the same way that I did,� Thornton said at Section 7. “He’s special. He’s one of the best players in the country.�

But no matter what class he’s in, Diggs still faces the same challenge ahead at Millennium this season. Namely, having to lead one of the state’s top high school teams along with standout point guard Adrian Higuera — but without wing Cameron Holmes, who left to become an Arizona freshman next season.

Without Holmes, "it's just more of all the other guys having to step up as just as much as I need to step up,� Diggs said. “I feel like me and Adrian are taking a big role being those leaders. As long as you step up and be the big brothers that we are in the program, we're gonna be all right.�

After the 2026-27 season, there’s no doubt where Holmes and UA coaches would prefer where Diggs plays next.

UA coach Tommy Lloyd and associate head coach Jack Murphy were both on hand for Diggs’ entire first game Saturday, while assistant coach TJ Benson was keeping a close eye on him all weekend.

Diggs said he loves Arizona and its staff,  though he said BYU, Houston, Kentucky and North Carolina have also been under consideration.

UA has had "some of the top prospects out of Arizona,� Diggs said. “You’ve got Koa (Peat) going there, being a one and done. You got Cam Holmes, my dog, shout out to him, going there this year. He’s looking good out there right now, too. So I feel like it's just a domino effect right now with all the top Arizona players that have seen or got the connection with Arizona.�

It’s possible the Wildcats could even have two in-state players at the same time in 2027-28, if Holmes sticks around for a second season.

That’s another possible benefit for Diggs’ reclassification: A better chance that he and Holmes will be reunited, a possibility Holmes has put in Diggs’ ears.

“All the time,� Diggs said. “I know it's part of the plan, though, that if I go to Arizona, I could possibly have a year with him. That would be great to be with my high school teammate for one more year at the next level, and to just see each other grow from there.�