PREVIEW SERIES: Quade Green
Cats Illustrated is previewing every scholarship player on Kentucky's 2017-2018 basketball roster.
Part seven of the series is on point guard Quade Green. The 6-foot, 165-pound Philly native was one of UK's top guard targets in the class of 2018 and is in next in line when it comes to running John Calipari's offense.
Does Green have what it takes to lead Kentucky to the Final Four?
High School: Green averaged 22.8 points, 7.9 assists. and 2.1 steals per game as a senior, helping lead his Philly Neumann-Goretti team to a state title. Green was named as a McDonald's All-American where he finished with nine points, seven assists and five rebounds in the game.
Green was considered the best "pure" point guard in the class of 2017 and was ranked the 21st best player. Green is known for his passing but is also a solid defender and shooter.
Green was thought to be a Syracuse lean for the majority of his recruitment as the Orange recruited him for years. However, UK had a change of heart and instead of making Trae Young a priority, the Cats put all their eggs in the Green basket and he committed to UK in the fall of 2016.
Green was a major pickup for Kentucky because of the friendship he had with other 2017 players. He did plenty of recruiting for the Cats and Kevin Knox and Jarred Vanderbilt mentioned wanting to play with a pass-first point guard like Green in college.
Summer Rumblings: Green arrived to UK a little later than his freshmen teammates but once Green was on campus you heard positive rumblings. We know Green is going to be a phenomenal passer for UK but Cats Illustrated has been told by sources closes to the program that Green's shooting ability has been impressive. Shooting will be crucial for this upcoming season so Green will need to be able to hit from outside this season.
It worth mentioning that there has been more rumblings about Shai Alexander than Green. Not necessarily that Alexander is better than Green, but outside of Green shooting well from outside not much has been passed along to Cats Illustrated about Green. That's not the case for Alexander.
Maybe it's the level of expectations, as Green was a five-star player and many are expecting big things from him. Alexander was ranked as a four-star recruit and not nearly as popular as Green. Maybe Alexander has just surprised folks since he wasn't as closely followed as a recruit.
Or maybe there could be a point guard controversy this season. Everyone has assumed that Green will be the starter, and that should be the case to start the season, but does Alexander has the stuff to eventually take over Green's spot?
2017-2018 Prediction: Green will start the season but there's a lot of pressure on the point guard at Kentucky. The point guard under John Calipari doesn't necessarily have to be the best player on the team, but he has to be great. Calipari's lone title team at UK featured Marquis Teague, who may not have been one of the three or four best players on that 2012 team, but he was far from a weakness and did exactly what that team needed him to do during that memorable run.
That may be the situation that Green finds himself in 2018. UK won't need him to be a scoring machine, but he will need to hit open shots. Kentucky won't need him to be the country's best defender, but he can't be a liability. The Cats will need Green to make the smart plays and the right plays. It will mostly be about finding the open man.
The good news is Green has and should excel at all those things. He's never one to force anything and that's great news for Kentucky this upcoming season. Green will play smart and will keep turnovers to a minimum.
While there has been positive buzz about Shai Alexander, Green will still be the guy for the Cats. Some depth in the backcourt will be a great thing but expect Green to lead the team as point guard for the majority of the season. His numbers will be somewhere around 8-10 points per game and 4-6 assists.