The Kentucky Wildcats landed their point guard of the future Saturday when Quade Green made the call for UK.
The five-star recruit out of Philly became the first, and perhaps only true point guard, that John Calipari will land in 2017. With De’Aaron Fox and Isaiah Briscoe all but gone for the NBA Draft while Dominique Hawkins graduates, Green is already penciled in as UK’s starting point guard for the 2017-18 season.
With Green now signed, his high school coach, Carl Arrigale, talked with the Cats Pause about what went into the decision for Green to pick blue when most though he was going with Syracuse Orange.
Even Arrigale admits he thought the Cuse were going to be the pick for awhile, but once John Calipari and UK came calling, the game changed.
"I think it was Syracuse a long time ago and he never pulled the trigger,” Arrigale said. “Then, when Kentucky became more and more serious, it gave him something to think about and the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. It was harder to tell Syracuse no than it was to tell Kentucky yes.”
But while the Orange had all of the momentum for the past month as Green’s decision neared, it looks like that may have just been an illusion based on what Arrigale revealed.
“He hasn't said it to me but just being around him, I think Kentucky was the choice for a little while now,” said Arrigale. “He just kept it to himself. He was wearing Kentucky stuff every day in practice. The fact that one of his ex-teammates plays football there, [Syracuse] was just a situation where he felt comfortable, but he wanted to go to Kentucky."
Even so, there is no question that what UK did to Michigan State in the Champions Classic was a big factor in getting Green to finally pick the Cats. That was a game in which Isaiah Briscoe and De’Aaron Fox, two points guard, dominated the game along with Malik Monk.
Those three effectively won the game for UK while showing that Green could be a star in Lexington, even if he’s playing with other great point guards.
"It might have pushed him. It might have been a tipping point. Watching those guys and the way they played, I think he envisioned himself there playing with those types of athletes,” Arrigale said. “He told me, 'if I can get surrounded by athletes I know I can make them all better.“
One other thing Arrigale revealed that will greatly excite UK fans is what Green said after he made his decision.
“He (Green) said, 'I can get Mo [Bamba] and [Hamidou] Diallo and with the other guys that are there and we can make a run at that thing.' I said, 'well, you better get them then.'"
If Green is able to help UK reel in Diallo and Bamba...watch out.