Tyrese Maxey picks UK and will stay in 2019: Highlights and Scouting Report

Five-star point guard Tyrese Maxey has committed to the Kentucky Wildcats. Maxey also revealed that he will stay in the 2019 class, despite all the talk of him moving into 2018.

Maxey is the No. 13 player in the class of 2019 and the No. 2 point guard, per 247 Sports Composite, which measures all of the recruiting services. He averaged 22.9 points, 7.7 boards and 3.7 assists as a junior in 2017-18. He received a scholarship offer on Oct. 14, right after taking an unofficial visit to UK.

John Calipari and Tony Barbee visited Maxey on April 5, as well as April 15, and pitched to him a 2018 reclassification, but for now, it looks like he’s staying in 2019.

Maxey had 19 offers, and chose UK over the Michigan State Spartans, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the UCLA Bruins, the Texas Longhorns. the SMU Mustangs and others.

Maxey stands 6-3, 185 lbs. As a Garland, Texas, native (South Garland High School), the other school getting a lot of buzz for Maxey was SMU. Or at least that was the case until Maxey’s father resigned from SMU’s staff after holding a prominent role in the program’s recruiting. He was a top-two player in the state in the 2019 class.

The decision to commit to Kentucky became highly likely when Maxey named the Wildcats as the favorite on April 21.

Maxey’s game features great scoring abilities, with a great mid-range shot and an ability to run in transition. Maxey does struggle with his shooting a bit and hasn’t shown exceptional defense yet, but he’s shown enough potential on that end of the floor to think he can become a great defender in college.

A reclassification to 2018 is still technically possible, which would pretty much overload the Kentucky backcourt next year with five-stars Immanuel Quickley and Ashton Hagans also potentially in that backcourt, as well as four-star Tyler Herro.

Either way, Calipari seems to be set on guards for the foreseeable future in Lexington.

Here is the ESPN scouting report of Maxey:

Strengths: Tyrese Maxey is a scorer! He has a gift for putting the ball in the basket. He is a solid shooter with his feet set to 22 feet. Tyrese is a combo guard that could project as a lead guard at the highest level. He has a good mid range game and is an excellent slasher to the basket. Maxey has good athleticism and can be a top notch defender when motivated.

Weakness: Maxey has “in between” size and is a scorer first so he doesn’t project as a true point guard. He is an excellent basketball player so his size won’t prevent him from being an impact guy at the collegiate level. Defensively he can lose concentration from time to time and sometimes doesn’t feel challenged but he has the physical capability (long limbs, athleticism and size) to be a great defender.

Bottom Line: Tyrese’s ability to score makes him an elite prospect. The more he shows his ability to play point guard or grow to 6’5 , the higher his stock for the highest level.

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