Calipari commitments prove doubters wrong again

By LARRY VAUGHT

Remember a few weeks ago when John Calipari did not have a commitment in Kentucky's 2017 recruiting class.

Well, once again Calipari has shown not to doubt him.

Philadelphia point guard Quade Green announced Saturday night that he had signed with Kentucky. Earlier New Jersey center Nick Richards, Las Vegas power forward P.J. Washington and Chattanooga guard Shai Alexander had signed with Kentucky.

Green was thought to be a definite lean to Syracuse, which had recruited him for two years. Calipari got involved over the summer, just like he did with Alexander.

Calipari knows he likely needs to rebuild his backcourt for next year with De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Isaiah Briscoe all likely to leave UK for the NBA while Dominique Hawkins and Mychal Mulder are seniors.

Calipari had made Oklahoma point guard Trae Young a priority but many now believe he will pick Oklahoma. Another guaed, John Petty, signed with home-state Alabama recently.

The good news with landing Green is that several players have indicated they would not mind playing with Green in college. One is AAU teammate Mohamed Bamba, a top five player in the 2017 class and 7-foot center. They were together in New York Tuesday to watch UK beat Michigan State.

Hamidou Diallo, a 6-5 shooting guard, was also thought to be a possible Syracuse lean due to Green. That could change now even though Diallo is also attracting a lot of NBA attention because he could go to the NBA since he's a fifth-year high school player.