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Big Blue Madness is always a major draw for recruits and this year is no exception as one of the best players in the 2014 class will be in attendance. JaQuan Lyle, the 6-4 point guard from Evansville, Indiana will be in attendance. It will be Lyle’s second trip to Lexington as he toured campus once before but his first visit to Big Blue Madness. Lyle is ranked 16th in the ESPN Super 60 and is a five-star prospect.
Lyle is a big point guard and considers himself to be a combo guard due to his shooting ability and size, “I am a point guard and I have good court vision,” Lyle said, “but I can play either position because of my shooting ability and my size.” The physical tools are a great quality in a young player but he thinks something else is his biggest strength, “I have a passion for the game, I love playing basketball and I play hard all the time.”
At this point Lyle estimates he has “around 30 scholarship offers” but he has yet to be offered one to UK. He does, however, talk to the UK staff regularly, “I talk to Coach Cal, Coach O and Coach Payne a lot but they are taking it slow and we are going to talk more about that when I get on campus.” Lyle said he talks to the UK staff every few days now and is looking forward to getting on campus.
When asked what he is looking for in a potential college he said he wants to go somewhere that plays an up-tempo style and pushes the ball, but also gave an answer that was something a little different than most might expect from a high school superstar, “I want to go somewhere with a great staff, but I also want to go where I know they will push me hard every day to get better and a place where I have great teammates.”
Kentucky has become Point Guard U since John Calipari came to Lexington and Lyle has noticed how much success the recent point guards have had. He also made it clear that he knows coming to UK doesn’t guarantee you will be a great player, “I definitely have watched the point guards Cal has had, but they were all great players,” Lyle said, “from John Wall to Brandon Knight to my friend Marquis Teague they are all great players, so I know it wouldn’t be easy to get where they are, I just have to work extremely hard.” Teague let him know all the hard work it takes to succeed at UK, “he is a friend of mine and he told me you have to work hard every day to succeed and it isn’t easy.”
Even though Lyle doesn’t have an offer yet he already has a few things in common off the court with current UK players Ryan Harrow and Archie Goodwin. He is a “sneaker head” like Harrow, who has over 200 pairs of sneakers and enjoys watching “cartoons” like Goodwin who is fond of Sponge Bob.
Lyle is a long way from making a commitment but will be a major player to watch in the coming year, as UK’s early interest is an indicator that we will hear a lot more from him in the near future.
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