And another one: Teague picks Kentucky
Words. Jason Jordan
Kentucky head coach John Calipari just added another big piece to what is swiftly becoming one of the greatest recruiting runs in recent history. On Thursday, Pike (Indianapolis, Ind.) junior point guard Marquis Teague chose the Wildcats over Louisville, Indiana, Purdue and Cincinnati.
The announcement lacked suspense, though.
Teague’s friend Garfield (Seattle, Wash.) junior guard Tony Wroten Jr. leaked the news of Teague’s inevitable commitment via his Twitter: “Yessir. Mr. Teague will b a kentucky wildcat. Its final!”
We caught up with Teague briefly after his big announcement and he said, more than anything, he was “happy it’s all over now.”
“It’s a load off,” said Teague, whose older brother is Atlanta Hawks rookie PG Jeff Teague.
Just a week ago, the ‘Cats landed St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) junior swingman Michael Gilchrist, ranked No. 7 in the HSH national top 50, which disregards class. Teague is ranked eighth on that list.
In the same week that Gilchrist committed, point guard Brandon Knight (4th) and shooting guard Doron Lamb (19th) both added to Kentucky’s already stellar 2010 recruiting class. Turkish center Enes Kanter (Tarzana, Ca.) and shooting guard Stacey Poole (Jacksonville, Fla.) were already on board, and by all accounts, the ‘Cats are favored to land Word of God Academy (Raleigh, N.C.) forward C.J. Leslie, the 10th-best player in the country.
Other possible options for the ‘Cats in 2010 are Westlake (Atlanta, Ga.) forward Marcus Thornton and Jefferson (Portland, Ore.) duo Terrence Jones and Terrence Ross.
Teague’s commitment can only help as Kentucky tries to reel in other top 2011 prospects like Wroten — who said he’s “favoring Kentucky at this point” — Westchester Academy (High Point, N.C.) forward Quincy Miller and East Side (Cleveland, Miss.) forward Johnny O’Bryant.
The Breakdown – Marquis Teague
Combines a quick first step with the best combination of handles, hops and athleticism of any guard in the country. Teague is a gifted scorer in a variety of different ways and involves teammates to balance his offensive repertoire. Very smart leader on the court, who is gifted at making in-game adjustments that always seem to be the right move.
Got a burning question for Jason? Email him: JasonJ@DimeMag.com
CJ is only favored to go to Kentucky by Kentucky fans. CJ is staying in Raleigh and leading the resurgence of the Wolfpack.
It will be fun to watch him compete with Harrow, Lo Brown, Howell, and T. Smith take the PACK back to the promise land.
Imagine the hometown crowd will love him. If we go crazy for J. Davis, we will go ape $#!t for CJ.
Go Pack and CJ stay home!
NBA needs to do something about their “1 & done” rule. Either let them come directly from HS, or implement some sort of 2yr or 3yr rule!
LBurna – hahahaha.
They should stay for 2 – and with the impending NBA strike, these Cats probably will. It is rare that there are legitimate one and dones, but if you get a Lebron or a Wall – you have to let em play. Come to Lexington CJ and Tony Wroten – Let the goodtimes roll!! Go UK!!