It looks like the Kentucky Wildcats could come out of November with their 2017 point guard in the fold. With news that Quade Green is deciding on November 19, we already knew one of UK’s top targets at this spot will come off the board soon.
Will Trae Young do the same?
Scout.com’s Evan Daniels and ESPN’s Jeff Borzello seem to think so...
Five-star PG Trae Young had planned on waiting until the spring to sign, but now says "it's up in the air" on whether he'll sign early.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) November 3, 2016
Although original plan was to decide late, I'm hearing there's a possibility that Trae Young could commit during the early period.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) November 3, 2016
The original plan for Young was to commit to a school in December, then sign his national letter of intent in the spring signing period. However, it now appears there is a chance Young signs during the early period, which runs from November 9-16.
Whenever Young makes his pick, it's going to be either the Wildcats or Oklahoma Sooners. UK has been viewed as the favorite for awhile, and while I still believe they are, a lot of recruiting analysts think the Sooners are a real threat to keep the Oklahoma native in-state for his college career.
UK head coach John Calipari has been making Young a priority for over a year now, something you don't often see Cal do with future classes. He's been pursuing Young as hard as he has any elite point guard at UK, which is why they've been in the lead for much of this recruitment.
There’s no doubt Cal is also pushing hard for an early decision for Young in order to build this 2017 class around him. Maybe that’s why we’re seeing Young start to reconsider when he signs.
Perhaps Cal is even pushing Young to decide now, or else he’ll take Green and build the class around him instead and move on from Young. At this point, Cal probably sees he can’t land both point guards, but they’ve close enough in talent, ability and potential that Cal is ready to fully commit to whichever one will commit now and work to build UK’s 2017 class around said player.
This is why Cal is paid the big bucks, and this could be the toughest call he has to make in this class.