Kris Wilkes, the 6-foot-8 small forward from Indianapolis (IN) North Central, committed to UCLA over Indiana and Illinois on Sunday.
Assistant coach David Grace gets the assist.
All signs had pointed to Wilkes picking the Bruins after Brian Bowen cancelled his recent visit to UCLA.
“When I took my official visit there it just felt right to me,” Wilkes told Scout.com. “I just felt it was the perfect spot and it felt like home. All of the schools recruiting me did a great job, and I thank them very much for their interest, but I was more comfortable with UCLA.
“I watched a lot of tape and did a lot of research into the roster, and I saw all the centers and power forwards they had on their roster so I knew I’d be playing my position,” Wilkes said. “I was just very confident that I would develop there, and that I could reach my potential in their system.”
Wilkes’ commitment gives UCLA a fifth commit in the Class of 2017, following point guard Jaylen Hands, shooting guard LiAngleo Ball, power forward Cody Riley and center Jalen Hill. The class is now ranked No. 1 nationally by Scout.com.
Ranked by Scout.com as the nation’s No. 4 power forward in his high school class, Wilkes has also been tabbed as the No. 1 player in the state of Indiana this year by the Indianapolis Star. He was listed as one of six IndyStar Indiana Junior All-Stars in March 2016, as selected through votes from the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.
Wilkes averaged 22.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game during his junior season in 2015-16 at North Central High School. In addition, he has been ranked No. 14, nationally, in his high school class by ESPN.com and No. 18 by both Scout.com and Rivals.com.
He also won a gold medal with the USA U18 team this summer.
“Kris is a very skilled big guard,” UCLA head coach Steve Alford said. “We needed to add size in our backcourt and Kris gives us that. With Kris, you’re talking about a guy who is a potential 2,000-point scorer in high school who could also win Indiana’s Mr. Basketball award. He has great length and talent and a high basketball IQ. We’re excited to add Kris to our program.”
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