Immanuel Quickley open to playing with Ashton Hagans

The Kentucky Wildcats are now the favorites to land Ashton Hagans.

UK was already the slight favorite for the five-star point guard before even offering him a scholarship. Then came word that UK finally offered him on Thursday, and now it seems like only a matter of time before he becomes a Wildcat.

The expectation is Hagans will become a Class of 2018 recruit, despite currently being in the 2019 cycle. He’s ranked as high as No. 6 overall in 2019 by 247 Sports in addition to being the top-ranked point guard.

One would think Hagans would still be ranked pretty high in 2018, which happens to be the class UK already has a pledge from a five-star point guard in. Immanuel Quickley signed with UK in the fall, and he’s going to compete for the starting point guard spot next season along with Quade Green.

So, would Quickley have an issue with another five-star guard joining the mix?

Based on what he told Ben Roberts of the Herald-Leader, it doesn’t sound like it.

“It’s basically the business of basketball. Playing point guards together, playing guards together,” Quickley said. “And he’s real versatile as well, so I think we can both play together.”

While it seems like to highly-ranked point guards in the same class could be an issue, it shouldn’t be with Quickley and Hagans, as their games would actually compliment each other very well, assuming they’re together on the floor a lot.

Quickley is a really good shooter that can space the floor, while Hagans is more of a slasher that does a lot of damage at the rim. And both are great passers that could really have UK’s offense running as efficiently as anyone in the country.

“Whoever’s on the floor — I’m a versatile player; and pretty much all those guards you mentioned are versatile players — that’s what the game is going to, NBA and college, and it makes your team harder to guard,” Quickley said.

Some of UK’s best teams have featured two points guards, which probably makes it easier for both Hagans and Quickley to realize this can work in college.

Hagans is also big and physical enough that he could spend time on the wing for stretches.

But the truth is, Hagans is good enough to be UK’s lead point guard next season if that’s where he ends up.