One of the top ranked point guards in the Class of 2016, 6-3 Katy (TX) native De’Aaron Fox, made his college decision live on ESPNU on Thursday night. The blue chipper chose Kentucky over LSU, Louisville and Kansas, joining a coach known for developing elite PGs like Derrick Rose, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe in John Calipari. He has been compared to Wall in terms of his explosiveness and natural physical abilities. Fox is regarded as a top-10 national player by every recruiting service around.
“It felt like a family there,” he said live on TV. “When I went for my visit, every fan knew who I was. Out of every coach that recruited me, I had the best relationship with Coach Cal.”
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John Calipari kept his point guard pipeline flowing strong Thursday night when De’Aaron Fox, the consensus No. 1 prospect at his position in the Class of 2016, committed to Kentucky live on ESNPU’s signing-day special.
“When I went on my visit, every fan knew who I was,” Fox said on the broadcast. “I got off the airplane and people were greeting me like they knew me my whole life.”
He went on to say that his relationship with Calipari was the best of any coach who recruited him – Kansas, Louisville and LSU were his other finalists – and that Calipari’s reputation for churning out elite point guards was “a huge part” of the decision.
Fox, a 6-foot-4 native of Katy, Texas, is the 11th five-star point guard to play for Calipari since 2007 and the sixth ranked No. 1 nationally at the position by at least one major recruiting service. Derrick Rose, John Wall, Marquis Teague, Andrew Harrison and Jamal Murray are the others.
All but Murray, a freshman on the current team, played in a Final Four or were drafted No. 1 overall – or both.
“He’s certainly in that same category,” Scout.com national recruiting analyst Evan Daniels said. “He has elite upside, a one-and-done guy, future lottery pick and going to be a very good NBA player one day. I think after John Wall, he’s probably as good as any point guard Cal has recruited at Kentucky. He’s up there.”
Cats fans will also like where Daniels went for former UK point guard who is comparable to Fox.
“He’s not as fast as (Wall) and he’s not as strong as John, but he has similar size and athletic gifts and he’s a similar level competitor,” Daniels said. “What a lot of people didn’t know about John Wall was what a competitor he was, a guy who eats, sleeps and breathes basketball.
I think De’Aaron is kind of the same way.”
