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Quade Green picks Kentucky Wildcats Basketball; Highlights and Scouting Report

Quade Green has the size of former cat and NBA star Eric Bledsoe, 6'1" and 180 lbs, while shares similar play styles to that of Isaiah Briscoe.

Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

Five-star point guard Quade Green has officially announced his commitment to the Kentucky Wildcats.

Green, the fourth-ranked point guard in the Class of 2017, has been deadlocked between Kentucky and Jim Boeheim's Syracuse Orange. National powers like Duke and Villanova have been in the chase as well, but ultimately, the Philadelphia native is coming to Lexington.

Green signed his National Letter of Intent earlier this week, so John Calipari knew that he snagged this elite prospect days before the official announcement. After Kentucky's win against Michigan State, Green came out publicly and said that his decision was made.

Previously an assumed lock to commit to Syracuse, this sudden announcement gave all the speculation that Green had his mind set on Kentucky.

Quade Green has the size of former cat and NBA star Eric Bledsoe, 6'1" and 180 lbs, while shares similar play styles to that of Isaiah Briscoe. People should not expect Green to take a ton of jump shots, but instead, facilitate and attack the rim relentlessly.

This marks Kentucky's third top 25 recruit for the 2017 class, joining Nick Richards and PJ Washington. Green is also the second point guard committed in this class, the first being Shai Alexander.

Syracuse is still without a top-tier recruit in the class. After convincing attempts at Lonnie Walker, Nick Richards, and Green, the Orange may be going into desperation mode to try and build something for this recruiting class.

The biggest question pertaining Green's commitment is what it means for Kentucky's recruiting of point guard Trae Young. Young, ranked just ahead of Quade Green in ESPN rankings, is currently deciding between Kentucky and his hometown school of Oklahoma.

There has been massive speculation of Kentucky heavily pursuing both Green and Young to commit here. Calipari is no stranger to playing two point guards together next to each other, and given the contradicting play-styles of the two, it seems like it would work.

Kentucky gets themselves a hard-nosed playmaker at the point guard spot. There is no guarantee that Quade Green is a one-and-done prospect either, so this could be Kentucky's point guard for multiple years to come.

Here is an excerpt of ESPN’s scouting report for Green:

Strengths:

Green has evolved from a player who was a stocky scoring guard as an underclassmen into a true point guard and one of the best passing playmakers in the country.

His understanding of how to not only deliver passes, but also utilize his dribble to establish passing angles, has improved exponentially over the years as too has his conditioning.

He averaged almost 11 assists per game during the EYBL regular season, over 3 assists better than the next best guy in the league, while also finishing with close to a 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Green still remains a dangerous scoring threat and very good shooter, both behind the three-point line as well as in the mid-range area. He's crafty off the bounce, does a nice job of holding his dribble and refusing to pick it up in tight areas.

He owns definite leadership tools and is also a good defender who pressures the ball and will take it from lesser handlers (leads the EYBL in steals per game) and is also very adept at getting over ball-screens.

Weaknesses:

He doesn't have great size or explosiveness for a five-star caliber guard. He lacks the jets to typically blow right by a strong defender and is rarely above the rim. While his shooting numbers are good, he still has a tendency to settle for tough jumpers to bail him out of trouble and would do well to develop a floater game that he can utilize while going through the lane at full speed.

While his floor vision and passing ability are both top notch, his understanding of how to manage a game in terms of time and score is still more consistent with someone who is relatively new to the point guard position.

Defensively, he's the type that picks on lesser players but has a little bit of a harder time when he's playing another high level guard who isn't going to be rattled by initial pressure.

And here are some more highlights of the newest Cat in action: