Kentucky landed another five-star recruit on Saturday night in Kevin Knox.
One of the few remaining blue chip prospects on the board for the 2017 recruiting class committed to the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday night. Five-star combo forward Kevin Knox announced his decision via his Twitter account.
The No. 10 recruit in the 247Sports‘ most experts Composite Rankings chose the Wildcats over Duke, Florida State, Missouri and North Carolina. His decision comes as a bit of a surprise as expected him to choose the Blue Devils.
Knox is the sixth five-star recruit to commit to Kentucky in the 2017 class, although Hamidou Diallo is currently testing the NBA Draft waters. The Wildcats have the top-ranked class in the nation, something that has become a norm under head coach John Calipari.
The 6-foot-9 incoming freshman is an exciting prospect because of his length and athleticism that should allow him to be an incredibly versatile defender. He is still developing an offensive skill set, however. At this point, he’s not much of a creator and his jump shot is far from refined. That’s what makes Knox’s decision to head to Kentucky a bit puzzling.
The Wildcats’ roster is loaded with combo forwards who aren’t particularly adept offensive players. Jarred Vanderbilt and P.J. Washington, two other five-star recruits, lack much in the way of consistent floor-spacing ability. Wenyen Gabriel will return for his sophomore season and he is probably the best option for Calipari when it comes to a forward who can at least shoot from behind the 3-point arc.
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This will also be one of the youngest rosters that Calipari has fielded in his tenure in Lexington. All five starters from the Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament run are gone as are Dominque Hawkins, Isaac Humphries, Mychal Mulder and potentially Diallo.
That said, the Kentucky should be monstrous defensively with length and athleticism at every position. Calipari is well-known for crafting quality defensive teams and this one should be no different.