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De’Aaron Fox, the No. 1 point guard in the Class of 2016, is off the board to Kentucky.
The 6-foot-4 Fox out of Katy (TX) Cypress Lakes, who has drawn comparisons to Washington Wizards guard John Wall, also considered Kansas, LSU and Louisville. He made his announcement Thursday on ESPNU.
“It felt like a family there,” Fox told ESPNU after his announcement. “When I went on my visit, every fan knew who I was. They were greeting me like I had been there my whole life. Getting to know the players and Coach Cal, I felt like I had the best relationship out of any coach that recruited me, I felt like I had the best relationship with him, so that’s what set it apart.”
Fox said that the success of past Kentucky guards was a contributing factor in his decision.
“That was a huge part,” Fox said. “I asked guys why they went to certain schools, and I asked a couple of point guards that he had, and they said that Coach Cal is a great coach to play for, and ultimately, that’s why I went there.”
“With the ball in his hand, Fox has blazing speed with the ability to put pressure on opponents,” ESPN’s Paul Biancardi said. “Over the summer, Fox found the balance between scoring and distributing, elevating his performance to an elite level. More impressively, he then separated himself with his defensive prowess. Because of his outstanding play on both sides of the ball, he ascended into the ESPN 100 top 10 as the No. 7 overall player and the nation’s second ranked guard.”
Fox indicated during a video interview with Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com that he wouldn’t mind playing alongside other elite guards, like Malik Monk, in college to advance their NBA prospects. Fox and Monk visited Kansas and Kentucky together.
“Some point guards want to play together,” Fox said then. “Some twos are coming into point guards, guys talk about playing together at the next level. At Kentucky with John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, they’re both point guards in the NBA and they both came together at Kentucky. Guys want to play together, guys want to play with elite players at their position. It’s competitive every day. You don’t want to go to a practice and it’s not competitive, you just run through people.
“With all of our elite guards, people are going to try to play together and try to get to the NBA together.”
Fox is the projected No. 6 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, while Monk is projected at No. 7.
Monk, who is considering Kentucky and Arkansas among others, has yet to name an announcement date.
Fox joins bigs Sacha Killeya-Jones, Wenyen Gabriel and Tai Wynyard in Kentucky’s 2016 class.
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