Zachary Lyon:
Future150 Regional Analyst. Covering high and middle school basketball: NC, SC & VA
Lexington, KY (Future150) -- In this article, Future150 will break down the current 2016 recruiting class of the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky recently picked up two top ten recruits and vaulted over Duke to take over the #1 spot in the 2016 class rankings.
De'Aaron Fox, PG, Katy (TX): Fox will be the next man up in the long line of Kentucky point guard's drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft. Fox is a very special talent and will be one of the best players on the team right away next year, no matter who leaves or stays from the current team. He is a lengthy, athletic guard that scores the ball on all three levels with ease and knows when to dish it to his teammates. Expect Fox to be another lottery pick produced by Coach Calapari.
Malik Monk, SG, Bentonville (AR): Monk is the most recent player to commit and sign with Kentucky, as he just announced his decision on Twitter a few days ago. Malik will be the second piece to the two-headed monster that will be Kentucky's backcourt in the 2016-17 season. Monk is a high flying athlete with a smooth jumper, and a complete offensive game. If he can get on the level that Fox is defensively, Kentucky will without a doubt have the best backcourt in college basketball next season. Monk should certainly be a one-and-done, and is currently projected to be a top ten pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Bam Adebayo, PF, High Point (NC): Edrice "Bam" Adebayo is the jewel of this class in the frontcourt. Bam is an explosive true post player with some fantastic back to the basket moves, and a knack of cleaning up the glass on both ends of the floor. He will benefit greatly from having at least one if not two elite point guards (depending on Tyler Ullis's NBA decision) feeding him the ball all season long. Adebayo is also expected to be one-and-done as he is currently projected as the #6 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, per DraftExpress.
Wenyen Gabriel, CF, Manchester (NH): Gabriel may be the most intriguing prospect in this class, as just a year ago Wenyen only had offers from a couple of low-major schools. After literally exploding onto the national scene, and picking up an offer from every blueblood imaginable Wenyen decided to take his talents to Kentucky. Gabriel is no longer the low-major PF that he used to be. Now he is a very versatile and skilled tweener that will be a matchup nightmare for almost every team. The question is how good is he? Considering Gabriel just seemed to hit his stride this summer, it leaves the question of.... Can he get even better? Gabriel certainly has one-and-done potential but isn't as sure fire as the three of his future teammates listed above.
Sacha Killeya-Jones, PF/C, Lynchburg (VA): Killeya-Jones is an example of just how stacked this Kentucky class is. He is Calapari's lowest-rated recruit, yet he is easily a top 35 player in the country. Sacha should provide instant help defending the paint, and rebounding. Kentucky should have enough scoring where Sacha doesn't have to worry about scoring all that much. Many people expect him to stick around Lexington for a few seasons, but you can never overlook a player that spends an entire season with a coaching mastermind like Coach Cal. Don't be surprised if Killeya-Jones enters his name into the 2017 NBA Draft after his freshman season.
Continue to follow along with Future150 as we track the other top recruitng classes and the remaining unsigned five-star seniors.
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