Photo courtesy of UK Athletics
When the spring recruiting period opened last week, John Calipari went zero to one hundred real quick. Since then Calipari has added five-star forward E.J. Montgomery and five-star point guard Ashton Hagans but he teased fans that more could be on the way.
Tyrese Maxey is one of Calipari’s top targets for the 2019 class and he will have his second in-home visit of the spring with the UK head coach on Sunday. Kyle Tucker of SEC Country spoke with Maxey earlier this week about the possibility of reclassifying to the 2018 class, which would give the Wildcats a loaded backcourt next season.
In the 2018 class, Kentucky already has point guard signee Immanuel Quickley and former five-star and McDonald’s All-American, Quade Green is already on the roster. Hagans is also working on a reclassification to 2018. As for Maxey, Tucker spoke with his mentor on Thursday and it appears a reclassification is unlikely but if that were to occur, Green would have a decision to make.
247Sports director of scouting, Jerry Meyer, shared his thoughts with Kevin Flaherty of 247Sports earlier this week.
“The thing about Quade is that he’s so valuable as a shooter and scorer that he could play alongside any one of those guys,” Meyer said. “And don’t sleep on the fact that he has a year’s experience.”
Out of Hagans, Maxey, Quickley, and Green, Meyer believes Hagans would be the point guard. Even if Maxey becomes the second guard featured in the backcourt, Meyer doesn’t believe that means Green would immediately fall behind all three, including Quickley.
“I think Quade has a level of versatility that probably supersedes the other three,” said Meyer. “I like him as a shooter, off the dribble or the catch.”
If there’s one guy that Calipari needs to hold onto, it’s Green. If Diallo declares for the draft, he would be the only experienced guard on the roster. Read the full story on Green that includes more quotes from Meyer at the following link.
After the dust settles, Quade Green is a likely candidate to transfer out of Kentucky. But not so fast …
