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Julius Randle photo courtesy of ESPN.com (ESPN.com / March 20, 2013) |
Five-star recruit Julius Randle of Plano, Texas, announced today that he will play college basketball at Kentucky.
Randle had narrowed his choices to six schools but the consensus for several weeks was that he would either pick Kentucky or Kansas.
Randle's coach, Chris Mayberry, said he thinks the 6-9 Plano Prestonwood Christian standout is even better than he’s being given credit for.
“I think he can play anything from one (point guard) to five (center),” Mayberry said. “I really mean that he’s not just the best player in the country, but he’s going to be the best for a long time. There are a lot of talented players out there, but I’ve seen him up close for a few years now and he is that good. He’s just extra special.”
Kentucky was his first visit back in September while Kansas got a visit in mid-February.
Randle is the No. 2 ranked prospect in the 2013 recruiting class by 247Sports.
Kentucky and Kansas already have the top two recruiting classes in the country and both are also still recruiting Huntington (W.Va.) Prep star Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1-ranked player, and UK is in the hunt for California combo forward Aaron Gordon, a top five player also.
Gordon has indicated he will make his college choice at the McDonald's All-American game on April 3 in Chicago. He's down to Arizona, Washington, Kentucky and Oregon. Most recruiting analysts believe that Gordon will opt to play for one of the Pac-12 schools.
Wiggins has not set an announcement date.
