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Rivals.com has been doing yeoman's work lately producing some interesting videos of players, and this one is about 2012 signee Archie Goodwin. Rivals has disabled embedding for these videos, so you'll have to watch it over on YouTube by following this link.
I have always liked this kid, and and was pretty sure from the beginning that UK had a great shot at landing him. Now that he's a Wildcat, I'm thrilled to get this kind of look into his personality. His game is a perfect, prototypical fit for Kentucky. He loves to slash, is a good ballhandler and passer for his position, has tremendous flexibility (more on that in a minute), and swaps ends almost as well as John Wall and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
Goodwin is not considered a great perimeter player, but he can shoot it out there, all he needs is a little development. His athleticism is really off the charts, and he has great size for a 2-guard in college at 6'5". He is also projected to grow up to three more inches by sports medicine types.
Goodwin can play any wing position, and any guard position, even the point guard. At Kentucky he will undoubtedly play the 2, but he has plenty of point guard experience in high school, sees the floor well, and with his great size, could easily be a major matchup problem in that spot.
Goodwin is also considered a good defensive player, and with his length and motor, is likely to be a very good defender in college. I frankly expect him to eventually become the best defender on the team, as he is quick enough to defend almost anyone but the smallest of jitterbug point guards, and even then, he has the length and athleticism to recover.
Offensively, Goodwin has an explosive first step and can get into the lane against anyone, but it is in transition where he will be the most dangerous player on the team. Look for a mandate from Calipari similar to what we heard last year regarding MKG -- get it to Goodwin in transition or visit the bench.
Of all the players coming into Kentucky this year, I am most excited about Archie Goodwin. This kid has skills, and I think he is slightly underrated by most recruiting services. In my view, he is a top ten player this year, and if he could shoot it a bit better from outside, I'm sure he would be higher. I would much rather have him on my team than Kyle Anderson of UCLA, who is a very talented player but has inferior athleticism and quickness.
I'm loving me some Archie Goodwin right now. You should, too.