Archives > Sports Update
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Randle A-OK with UK: Prestonwood hoops star commits to Kentucky
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
Four hats lined the table near center court at the Prestonwood Christian Academy field house Wednesday in preparation for senior Julius Randle's college announcement.
Only one of those four was without a sticker and had a bent bill, as if it had already been tried on: Kentucky.
That foreshadowing proved correct, as in front of a capacity crowd and live on ESPNU, Randle put years of speculation to rest and announced his commitment to play for the Wildcats.
Hats for respective finalists Kansas, Florida and Texas were just for show Wednesday, with all four schools popping onto the radar for the 6-foot-8, 225-pound five-star recruit once his high school career got under way.
The deciding factor?
A system that Randle felt would accelerate his development.
"[Kentucky] does a lot of dribble-drive, isolation-type stuff," he said. "It's like an NBA system because in the NBA there's a lot of isolations, pick-and-rolls and stuff like that. I feel like that'd be the best place for me to develop for however many years I spend there to get ready for the next level."
Randle, who plans to study business, praised the competitive atmosphere at Kentucky, one that will ensure he'll have to battle under head coach John Calipari. That's been the modus operandi in Lexington for years now, with the Wildcats churning out NBA prospects like few others in the country -- including a staggering six players from last year's NCAA Championship team taken in the 2012 NBA Draft.
That barometer of talent won't change this upcoming season, with Randle joining a recruiting class that includes now features six of the nation's top 20 seniors.
"It's an amazing class, but we haven't done anything yet," Randle said. "Our goal is to win it and go undefeated. If we do that, then our class can be judged, but for now we're just recruits."
The road to Lexington
While Randle held the basketball recruiting world in the palm of his hand with Wednesday's announcement, it was just the latest in a string of highlights amassed by the forward during his high school career.
The accolades began to pile up early for Randle, who wasted no time in announcing his presence at Prestonwood; averaging 15 points and 9.8 boards as a freshman and scoring a team-high 17 points to lift the Lions to a 50-45 win over Trinity Christian-Addison on Feb. 27, 2010 for Prestonwood's first TAPPS 5A State Championship.
The rest of the nation took notice, evidenced that summer when Randle was named the top recruit in the nation for the Class of 2013 by ESPNU.
That high standard remained consistent throughout Randle's high school tenure, with the forward currently slotted at No. 2 in the country by Rivals, No. 3 by ESPN and No. 5 by Scout. Randle's performance on the court matched those expectations, following up with a 24.6-point, 12.5-rebound campaign as sophomore and averages of 21 points, 8.8 boards and 2.5 assists as a junior -- the latter of which resulted in his second TAPPS Championship.
Randle's accomplishments reached international levels in the summer of 2012 when he was one of three underclassmen on the USA Basketball Men's U18 National Team.
Competing in Sao Sebastio de Paraiso, Brazil, in the FIBA Americas U18 Championships, Randle led Team USA in both scoring (14.2 points) and rebounding (6.6) en route to the country's gold medal victory.
It was all a worthy precursor to the Lions' 2012-13 season, when Randle arguably saved his best for last.
Despite having his senior campaign curtailed for three months by a foot injury suffered during Prestonwood's second game, Randle returned for the Lions' regular season finale and piloted a sub-.500 squad back to state title contendership. Randle averaged 28.8 points and 15 rebounds following his return, which culminated at the TAPPS State Tournament (March 1-2) where he averaged 37 points and 17.5 boards to lead Prestonwood to its third TAPPS 5A Championship in four years.
With Wednesday's announcement, Randle embarks on another busy offseason.
That begins as soon as April 3 with the opportunity to play in the McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago, with an invite to the Jordan Brand Classic also waiting April 13 in Brooklyn.
For the time being though, Randle enjoyed the end of a process several years in the making and did so alongside those who have been there throughout the journey.
"[Randle is] a great kid," said Chris Mayberry, Prestonwood head coach. "You can see by how many people showed up that he affects so many people and that he'll befriend anyone. It shows how much our community has supported him."
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Sports Update «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
