Is there a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the next Kentucky basketball class?
By Drew Koch
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander burst onto the scene last season for the Kentucky basketball team. Is there a comparable player in the incoming freshmen class?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t the highest rated recruit on last year’s Kentucky basketball team. In fact, UK had six 5-star recruits on last year’s team. Gilgeous-Alexander outplayed all of them, had a fantastic freshmen season, and entered his name into the 2018 NBA Draft. Is there a similar player in this year’s incoming class?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, according to 247 Sports, was a 4-star recruit coming out of Hamilton Heights Christian Academy. Gilgeous-Alexander, much like others before him, didn’t pay attention to the so-called experts. Shai took over for an injured Quade Green, and the rest is history. Gilgeous-Alexander became the unquestioned leader of the Kentucky basketball team and is likely a first-round pick in next month’s NBA Draft.
So, who in this year’s incoming recruiting class could follow a similar path? UK has 4 incoming freshmen, and likely a fifth if Ashton Hagans reclassifies as expected. E.J Montgomery and Keldon Johnson are expected to be impact players immediately, so that rules them out. Hagans is the No. 1 rated point guard in the class of 2019, so that knocks him out of contention too.
Tyler Herro and Immanuel Quickley
We’re left with Tyler Herro and Immanuel Quickley. Herro is a knockdown shooter, who’s out to prove he’s more. If you watch video of Herro, you’ll not just see a three-point shooter. Herro is scorer, and he can score from anywhere on the court. Herro is a 4-star guard, so he fits the mold of someone like Gilgeous-Alexander. However, Herro will have to battle for playing time in a loaded UK backcourt.
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Quickley, No. 4 at his position and No. 20 nationally, is a talented point guard that does nothing great, but does everything well. Sound familiar? Quickley, much like Shai, is more of a combo-guard who can score and distribute.
Quickley, very much like Gilgeous-Alexander, must battle for playing time early. Green and Hagans will likely start in the backcourt for John Calipari. The status of PJ Washington, Jarred Vanderbilt and Wenyen Gabriel could have a lot to do with Quickely’s role on this team come the fall.
Quickely has become the forgotten man in the UK backcourt, but a couple of good games early may be all he needs to break into the rotation and become a key player for the Cats next season.