2014 Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Recruiting: Trey Lyles

Photo credit: ESPN.com

Trey Lyles

Indianapolis, Indiana

6’8″, 210 lbs. PF

Scout Ranking: #1 Power Forward, #7 Overall

Rivals Ranking: #4 Forward, #8 Overall

ESPN Ranking: #1 Power Forward, #6 Overall

Trey Lyles is from Indianapolis, Indiana and plays his high school basketball for Arsenal Technical High School.  Lyles plays his AAU basketball for the Spiece Indy Heat, who former Kentucky Wildcat Marquis Teague played for during the summer before his senior year of high school.  Lyles had originally committed to play for Tom Crean at Indiana in September of 2010, but then decommitted in August of 2012 and rumors have swirled about where he will land.  There were also false claims that he was taking visits to the University of Kentucky before he even decommitted from Indiana.  Lyles currently has offers from Indiana, Butler, Duke, Florida, Georgetown, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan State, Louisville, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Stanford, and UCLA.  He is also interested in Purdue, but they have not extended an offer to Trey as of yet.

Trey Lyles’ strengths, according to ESPN.com include being a very skilled post player at this point. Offensively he has advanced post moves. He likes to face the basket and can shoot with range to 17 feet. He can also put the ball on the floor some and score versus post players. He can score in the low block but even then prefers to turn and face. His potential is limitless right now. He is smooth and effortless. He reminds you of a young Tim Duncan offensively. Lyles is a solid defender. He can block some shots defensively. He can be bullied a little inside right now because of lack of strength and girth but those should definitely change over time. Trey is a solid passer and has the possibility to move to the wing in the future depending upon how much more he grows.

Lyles’ weaknesses include needing to get stronger and continue to develop his skills. He can struggle versus small and stronger opponents. As his body matures he should be able to battle more proficiently in the paint. There are not a great deal of negatives for this young stud. Everything is based off his continued development and improvement.

Trey has all the ingredients for stardom. He is skilled and productive for a young player. He has to be considered amoungst the top 5 players in the 2014 class nationally right now. Lyles is good now but has an even better upside.

The Kentucky Wildcats and head coach John Calipari are working hard on the recruiting trail for Trey Lyles as a potential dominant post player for the Cats, but there are also two big men above him the rankings that could possibly take some of the eyes off of him.  Look for the recruiting battle to heat up in the coming year or so.

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