Kentucky Basketball: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander commits to Wildcats
Kentucky basketball has added their third commit of the early signing period.
Before last week (the start of the early NLI signing period), John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats had zero commits in the class of 2017.
After the additions of Nick Richards and P.J. Washington, and the news that broke this morning, the Kentucky Wildcats suddenly have three high quality recruits in their 2017 group.
The player that committed early Monday morning, four-star point guard and former Florida commit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, announced his decision to join the Kentucky Wildcats over Syracuse, Texas, UNLV and the Gators on Twitter.
— Shai Alexander (@shaiglalex) November 14, 2016
Gilgeous-Alexander is a four-star recruit who is ranked 44th in ESPN’s top 100 and is labeled as the number one player in the state of Tennessee. He is also ranked as the 10th best point guard in the 2017 class.
The 6’5″, 185 pound lead guard is an interesting addition for Kentucky. He’s not going to necessarily change the dynamic of the team by himself and is not a one-and-done player at this stage in his career.
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However, that doesn’t mean Gilgeous-Alexander cannot be a solid player and a major contributor for the Wildcats in 2017-18.
Gilgeous-Alexander has absurd physical tools (great size and length) and possesses the quickness, feel and skill to immediately impact the game at the college level. He is also a very good playmaker, who has impressive vision and remarkable instincts for such a young talent. Gilgeous-Alexander is not an elite versatile defender just yet, but Calipari can surely develop him into one during his time in college.
The issue with Gilgeous-Alexander lies with his consistency from beyond the arc and his lack of strength.
Gilgeous-Alexander has the potential to take the next step to become a respectable shooter from the perimeter, but at this point, he doesn’t space the floor like some of the other point guards in this class (Trae Young, etc). The Tennessee native also only weighs 185 pounds and could have a difficult time finishing at the rim at the SEC level.
Meanwhile, Kentucky is going to have plenty of open minutes in their backcourt. De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk are likely to dash to the NBA, while there is always a chance of Isaiah Briscoe having a dynamic season and also opting for a chance to be selected in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Kentucky is obviously not finished reeling in backcourt pieces – they are in the mix for Hamidou Diallo, Quade Green, Young and Lonnie Walker – but Gilgeous-Alexander could be a two-year player that has a remarkable impact from the get-go. Imagine pairing Briscoe with Gilgeous-Alexander – now that would be one heck of a defensive backcourt.
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