Playing in Nike Hoop Summit special for Skal Labissiere

By: LARRY VAUGHT

Kentucky signee Skal Labissiere does not have a national team to play for in Haiti, so he knew playing in the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Ore., Saturday was going to be special.

“It means a lot. I get to represent my country, it’s a blessing from God. I get to play with the best players in the world, it’s a true blessing, and I’m really enjoying it,” said Labissiere, a 7-foot center from Memphis who signed with Kentucky in November, before he played in the game. “In Haiti, we don’t have a national team so this is the closest thing I can get to playing for Haiti. That is why it is such a fun experience, not a lot of Haitian kids get to do this unique opportunity so it is up to me to take full advantage of it.”

He did, too, Saturday as he was 9-for-15 from the field and scored 21 points in 27 minutes of play in the 103-101 win by his World Select Team over the USA Junior Select National Team 103-101 on ESPN2.. He also had six rebounds and six blocked shots.

“Just played in the best event of my whole high school career, it was a great blessing,” Labissiere posted on Twitter after the game.

One of his teammates was Tai Wynyard of New Zealand, UK’s only commit in the 2016 recruiting class. Wynyard had two points and two assists in 10 minutes of play but the 6-9 forward impressed Labissiere.

“First of all, he’s a really nice kid, really outgoing. On the court, he’s so big and strong down low,” Labissiere said. “Obviously he has a lot to work on but he has a lot of upsides. He’s a really good low-post player, has a left-hand jump hook and he can shoot it from mid-range. He is pretty skilled for his size. He’s still young as well so there are a lot of upsides with Tai.”

Another UK signee, guard Isaiah Briscoe of New Jersey, had nine points and nine assists for Team USA Saturday. Labissiere said he doesn’t talk to Briscoe nearly as much as guard Charles Matthews, another UK signee from Chicago.

“I have a pretty good relationship with him (Matthews). We were at a camp about three years ago and talked about playing together one day. He committed to Kentucky and ended up going there as well, so it worked out well,” Labissiere said. “It was not deliberate, just the way it worked out. It was just me wanting to go to Kentucky but we had talked about playing together.”

Labissiere, the fourth-ranked player in the 2015 recruiting class by Scout.com, joked that he did try to talk to some players at the Nike Hoop Summit who have not made their college choice and have UK ties.

“I’ll talk to Jaylen Brown and try to convince him to come,” Labissiere said before Saturday’s game. “He is the best wing in the country in my opinion. He’s not committed yet, so we will see! Of course it’s his own decision but if he decides to come to Kentucky, I’ll be really happy. If he doesn’t, I wish him the best. That is why it has been nice to get to know Tai this week, he is one more guy I will know well when I get to Kentucky and I didn’t realize he was that funny a guy off the court.”

Kentucky has seven players from this year’s 38-1 team leaving school early for the NBA as Labissiere will not be playing with any of them.

“I’m really happy for the guys. It’s their dreams, they worked hard to get to this point, to be able to declare for the draft and I hope they do well, whatever they do, wherever they end up,” Labissiere, who came to the United States to live in 2010 after an earthquake in Haiti, said. “We now just have to focus on what we have coming in, the recruiting class we have coming in, and make another run for the championship next year. I kind of saw this coming, so it was not a surprise or a shock.”

Labissiere, who will play in the Jordan Brand Classic Friday, is a nice building block for Kentucky putting together basically a new team next year — again. He recently was projected as the top pick in the 2016 NBA draft by DraftExpress.com.

“I think that’s cool, but I still have a whole other year to go, a lot of work to do. A lot of work,” he said. “I’m not going to let this get into my head, I’m just going to keep working and see what the future holds. It is not like I think I have arrived.

“As a matter of fact, I didn’t even see it. People told me about it because I have not been on social media all week — apart from a little bit of Twitter — so I had no idea Draft Express had said that.”

He said Kentucky coach John Calipari is “excited” about next season despite losing so many players.

“He can’t wait to see what we do as a group of players, he really believes we can make a run again for the championship,” Labissiere said. “And I can’t wait to see how much better I can get up there and how much better we can get as a team.

“Definitely playing at Hoop Summit helps me. Not just the game itself, but the practices, playing against guys my height with this level of skill, you really have to adapt. The level of competition has been really great, very physical down there. I learned a lot from it and I’m getting a lot better, I can feel that already.”

He’s even more excited knowing that in about two months he should be at UK to begin his college career.

“I can’t wait to see how much better I can get going up there, working out with (assistant) coach Kenny Payne and coach Rock Oliver, the strength and conditioning coach. I have a lot of work to do on my strength and conditioning so he will be my guy. I’m excited to be working with him,” Labissiere said.