Basketball fans around the country have been wondering throughout the spring which of the final two major high school recruits would be the first to pick a college.
Today John Wall chose Kentucky. Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) star Lance Stephenson still is up for grabs.
John Wall, Word of God Christian Academy (N.C.)
Photo By Jim Redman
Wall, the brilliant 6-foot-4 fifth-year senior point guard from Word of God Christian Academy (Raleigh, N.C.), told Tim Stevens, longtime prep editor of the
Raleigh News & Observer, “I had a group of great schools and I admire them all. But the relationship I had with Coach Cal (new Kentucky coach John Calipari) was the biggest factor.”
Wall, who averaged 19.7 points, nine assists and over eight rebounds, had strongly considered Memphis when Calipari still was its head coach.
“It’s never been about him scoring,” Stevens told MaxPreps. “He’s as quick as I’ve ever seen. And he can hit a dunk as good as anybody I’ve seen.”
The athletic Wall will join a superb recruiting class, which also includes 6-10 All-American DeMarcus Cousins (LeFlore, Mobile, Ala.). The Wildcats are so loaded that at this point they are at least three over their NCAA-allowed number of 13 scholarships.
Proving that recruiting is just as important to fans as the actual games, Stevens noted, “I’ve already had two calls about C.J. Leslie (Wall’s talented 6-9 junior teammate).”
