Top prospect DeAndre Ayton commits to Arizona

DeAndre Ayton, the highest ranked prospect in the Class of 2017, announced his commitment to Arizona.

After much anticipation, DeAndre Ayton will be saying “bear down” in the 2017-18 season. He was the top ranked prospect in the Class of 2017 and had an exceptional junior year of high school. Even though he goes to school in Phoenix, many expected him to go the route of Kansas or Kentucky, believing that John Calipari or Bill Self would be too persuasive to resist. But when announcing his decision live on SportsCenter, he decided to stick to a familiar environment:

That should give Arizona a legitimate shot over taking down Auburn for the best recruiting class in 2017.

DeAndre Ayton is a seven-foot center from the Bahamas who moved to San Diego. He has limitless potential and outstanding upside on both offense and defense. In his high school mixtape, he simply dominates the competition. Watch for yourself, and make sure to save an extra seat on the hype train:

DeAndre Ayton also had the chance to go overseas, but he dismissed that option back in July when speaking to Zagsblog.com (h/t Kansas City Star):

"My mom wants me to go to college so I have to go… I really want to win a national championship, to be honest."

Besides, when you have Arizona, Kentucky, and Kansas vying for your services, it’s hard to avoid the allure of college.

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By all accounts, DeAndre Ayton is one of the best prospects in years, and looks like he could’ve been drafted straight out of high school. Kansas and Kentucky will regard this as a loss, but Kansas already has the number one ranked prospect of 2016 in Josh Jackson. Adding Ayton to next year’s class would’ve been simply unfair. Kentucky also has the number one class in 2016.

It’s time for some parity, and having Auburn and Arizona at the top of the 2017 recruiting rankings is encouraging to see in that regard. However, DeAndre Ayton will almost certainly go one-and-done, so enjoy his college career while it lasts.