NEWSSTAND (6/17): Square commitment; more draft chatter; Cats in Ottawa?
Could John Calipari take his next Kentucky team to Ottawa?
What's the latest chatter surrounding De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk?
That and plenty of coverage of DeAndre Square's Friday commitment.
SCOUTING SQUARE
"Square plays on one of the most talented and successful prep programs in the Midwest, but he has made much of his noise on the off-season camp scene," Helmholdt said. "That's because Square is a plus-athlete for the position and excellent in space, two traits that are highlighted in a camp setting. He has added much-needed size in the last year and that will serve him well. He is best-suited for that traditional WILL linebacker role."
LINK: Scouting new Kentucky linebacker commitment DeAndre Square
PHOTO GALLERY
From TheWolverine.com photos of DeAndre Square at Cass Tech practice to multiple Rivals Camp and Rivals New Speed Combine events, here's a look at who Kentucky is getting.
LINK: Exclusive Rivals.com photo gallery of UK's newest commitment
IMPACT ANALYSIS
Clinkscale played a big role in landing Cincinnati, Ohio offensive lineman Quintin Wilson. He was also the driving factor behind offensive/defensive lineman Marquan McCall's commitment to Kentucky.
Now, Clinkscale has landed his third commitment from the 2018 class.
What's impressive about the players Clinkscale is landing is who he's beating out for some of these commitments. McCall was the No. 1 ranked player in Michigan and Square was another sought after Wolverine State prospect.
SIDELINED
An ankle injury will force Kentucky’s Isaiah Briscoe to shut it down for his remaining workouts leading up to the NBA Draft on Thursday, his agent told FanRagSports.com.
“It’s a minor ankle injury,” Brian Dyke of Shibumi sports said Friday. “He’ll probably have to pull out of the rest of the workouts.”
The 6-foot-3 Briscoe missed workouts with the Lakers, Sacramento, Milwaukee and Indiana because of the injury.
LINK: Ankle injury sidelines Isaiah Briscoe for NBA draft workouts
SENIOR STOOPS
No matter how hard it tried, the blue shag carpet couldn’t contain the thuds and thumps of four rambunctious boys at bedtime.
“It was quite the rumpus,” recalled Dee Stoops, mother of six, including the four brothers who were creating the clatter reminiscent of a Barnum & Bailey Circus — elephants included — in their shared upstairs bedroom.
“Their dad would march up the steps and they’d know they were in trouble,” she laughed. “He was stern.”
LINK: Father of college football’s Stoops brothers an ordinary man with an extraordinary legacy
SPECIAL MISSION
The University of Kentucky’s star-studded basketball team is weighing a trip north after a request from the White House’s pick as U.S. ambassador.
It was announced Thursday that Kelly Craft is the U.S. government’s nominee for the next ambassador to Canada. Craft and her husband, billionaire Joe Craft, are major donors to the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program, which practises at the Joe Craft athletic centre on campus.
University of Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari, who is close friends with the couple, told The Globe and Mail that Craft has asked him for two favours once she is confirmed as ambassador.
LINK: Calipari's Wildcats could be Ottawa-bound on a special mission
RUNNING STRONG
A much improved jump shooter of the basketball compared to this time last year, displaying just how much better he can become and the strong work ethic that he possesses, it would be difficult to nail down a specific drawback of Quickley’s. He is averaging over 12 points, three rebounds and three assists per game this weekend in 23 minutes of action while making half of his field goal tries. He is a two-way dynamo at the lead guard spot that is going to have the rock in his hands from day one, wherever that might be.
GAMETIME
Watch this NBA.com video featuring a video of De'Aaron Fox talking about what it's going to take to succeed at the next level as a point guard.
EARLY CONTACT
The recruitment of the 2019 class has been ongoing for the past few years, but yesterday things were taken to the next level. The date marked the official day that college coaches could first have direct contact with the rising junior ranks.
We reached out to some of the best on Thursday at the NBPA Top 100 Camp to discuss their recent conversations with college programs.
LINK: Which programs are reaching out to top 2019 prospects?
STEPPING UP
“We know that he can shoot the ball and we were excited to see that…“We wanted to challenge him in some other ways. This would be the first time that a shooter has done so much defense in a workout. But it’s really important to see a full suite of skills.”
LINK: Malik Monk steps up to defensive challenges in Sixers workout
“They’re just incredible players and really good people,” Humphries said of Fox and Monk. “De’Aaron is so quick and so agile. He controls the floor so well. He’s a great leader, and I loved playing with him just because of how he distributes the ball and created for his team.
“Malik is such an impressive player, with the way he shoots and the way he controls the games. He takes it all into his own hands, and he’s one of those type of players that just takes over. He’s a real asset to any team.”
LINK: Humphries says either Fox or Monk would work for Sixers