Stacey Poole made it official on ESPNU Thursday by making his college announcement.
“I made my decision and I’m playing for the University of Kentucky,” said the 6-foot-5, 190-pound Poole out of the Jacksonville (Fla.) Providence School. He also considered South Carolina.
“Coach [John] Calipari has history. He wins. He enjoys what he does and I just feel that he’s going to put me in the best situation as possible. If I go there and play anything can happen and I just have to go focus and just compete and I know Coach Cal will put me in the right situation.
“Where I want to go, I know that will be the perfect situation for me.”
Poole averaged 17.3 points last season at Jackson (Fla.) and will play small forward or shooting guard. He is the No. 4 small forward in the Rivals Class of 2010.
Poole hosted Calipari and assistant Orlando Antigua for an in-home visit on Sept. 13. He visited Kentucky for an official recruiting trip last weekend.
Brandon Knight, the top recruit in the nation out of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Pine Crest, also visted last weekend and Poole said he’d love to have Knight join him. Knight begins an official visit to UConn Friday.
“That would be great,” Poole said. “Brandon is a good dude, he’s a very good dude. He battles, he competes, loves to win. And I’ll be happy to play with him.”
