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Top 10 recruit Aaron Gordon chooses Arizona

 Posted by at 12:42 PM on April 2, 2013  Comments Off
Apr 022013
 
Aaron Gordon competed in the dunk contest at the Powerade Jame Fest on Monday night in Chicago. Photo: Courtesy of McDonald's

Aaron Gordon competed in the dunk contest at the Powerade Jam Fest on Monday night in Chicago.
Photo: Courtesy of McDonald’s

CHICAGO — Longtime Kentucky recruit Aaron Gordon committed to Arizona on Tuesday during McDonald’s All-American media day festivities at the United Center.

The 6-foot-8 power forward chose the Wildcats over UK, Washington and Oregon.

“I hope Tuscon is celebrating, because I’m about to be a West Coast Wildcat,” Gordon said before pulling on an Arizona hat.

Gordon, a San Jose, Calif., native, had long been expected to stay on the West Coast. He’s ranked by Scout.com as the No. 6 overall player in the class of 2013.

Gordon’s commitment leaves Andrew Wiggins as the only top-10 prospect who has yet to commit to a school for next season. UK, Florida State, North Carolin and Kansas are the four finalists for Wiggins, who is ranked by all recruiting services as the No. 1 player in the country. He does not have a timetable for his decision.

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Aaron Gordon’s college decision coming Tuesday

 Posted by at 4:23 PM on April 1, 2013  4 Responses »
Apr 012013
 

CHICAGO — Some lucky college coach already knows that he’ll have McDonald’s All-American Aaron Gordon on his team next season.

The rest of us will have to wait until Tuesday to know who that coach is.

Gordon, the No. 6 prospect in the country according to Scout.com, will announce his college decision during McDonald’s media day festivities, which begin at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The 6-foot-8 power forward from San Jose, Calif., is down to four schools: Arizona, Kentucky, Oregon and Washington. He singled out Sean Miller, John Calipari, Dana Altman and Lorenzo Romar as “great coaches” after McDonald’s practice Monday.

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Aaron Gordon’s senior mixtape doesn’t disappoint

 Posted by at 10:14 PM on March 25, 2013  No Responses »
Mar 252013
 

Andrew Wiggins is great, but the 2013 prospect with the best highlight reel might just be Aaron Gordon.

The uncommitted UK recruit’s senior mixtape was released Monday, and it doesn’t disappoint. The new video montage shows the 6-foot-8 forward at his best, flying through the air for crazy dunks and blocks, and creating shots with strong penetration moves and cross-court passes.

Kentucky probably won’t land Gordon — most analysts think he’ll choose Arizona, Washington or Oregon — but until he announces his decision, Cats fans can sit back and ponder an already-stacked 2013-14 squad that includes the San Jose native.

Gordon will make his college decision April 3 at the McDonald’s All-American Game in Chicago.

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Weekend recap: Gordon’s finale & Calipari’s road trip

 Posted by at 1:33 AM on March 25, 2013  No Responses »
Mar 252013
 
2013 forward Aaron Gordon is considering Kentucky, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Photo: Associated Press

2013 forward Aaron Gordon is considering Kentucky, Arizona, Oregon and Washington.
Photo: Associated Press

Some recruiting stories you might have missed amid the recent Madness …

Aaron Gordon played his final high school game Saturday night. The undecided 2013 prospect and his Archbishop Mitty squad fell to Mater Dei 50-45 in the California state finals. Gordon had 22 points and 20 rebounds in his last game with Mitty. The top-10 recruit will choose among UK, Arizona, Washington and Oregon during next week’s McDonald’s All-American Game. The consensus in recruiting circles is that Gordon, a San Jose native, will stay out West and pick one of the three finalists other than Kentucky. Mater Dei was led by 2014 forward Stanley Johnson, who scored 26 points in the title game and already has a scholarship offer from UK. Gordon and Johnson were teammates last year with the Oakland Soldiers, who won the Peach Jam finals over the summer.

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Gordon will announce decision at McDonald’s game

 Posted by at 11:53 AM on March 17, 2013  No Responses »
Mar 172013
 
2013 forward Aaron Gordon is considering Kentucky, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Photo: Associated Press

2013 forward Aaron Gordon is considering Kentucky, Arizona, Oregon and Washington.
Photo: Associated Press

Five-star class of 2013 forward Aaron Gordon will announce his college decision at the McDonald’s All-American Game on April 3.

Gordon is considered by Scout.com to be the No. 6 overall prospect in the senior class. The 6-foot-8 California native has narrowed his list to Kentucky, Arizona, Washington and Oregon.

He is one of three uncommitted 2013 recruits ranked in Scout’s top 10. The other two — Andrew Wiggins and Julius Randle — are also considering UK. Randle will announce his decision Wednesday, and Wiggins does not have a timetable for his college choice.

Earlier this month, the Herald-Leader polled five national recruiting analysts on where they thought Gordon would end up: Three said Arizona, two said Washington and no one predicted Kentucky.

ESPN senior analyst Dave Telep wasn’t bullish on UK’s chances with Gordon during an interview with the Herald-Leader in January.

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UK recruits dominate list of player of the year finalists

 Posted by at 12:34 PM on March 12, 2013  No Responses »
Mar 122013
 
Huntington Prep forward Andrew Wiggins is one of six finalists for the Morgan Wootten Player of the Year Award. Photo: Matt Goins

Huntington Prep forward Andrew Wiggins is one of six finalists for the Morgan Wootten Player of the Year Award.
Photo: Matt Goins

Three future Kentucky Wildcats and two uncommitted UK recruits are among the six finalists for the Morgan Wootten Player of the Year award.

The list of finalists released Tuesday includes UK signees Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, UK commitment Dakari Johnson, uncommitted targets Andrew Wiggins and Aaron Gordon, and Duke commitment Jabari Parker.

UK women’s signee Linnae Harper is among six finalists for the girls’ award.

The winners will be announced March 18.

No UK player has ever won the award, which was first given to Shane Battier in 1997 and is named for legendary coach Morgan Wootten of  DeMatha High School in Maryland.

Past winners include Jay Williams (1999), LeBron James (2003), Dwight Howard (2004), Greg Oden (2006) and Shabazz Muhammad (2012). Duke players have won the award five of out of 16 times.

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Weekend recap: Hawkins, Snider going to Rupp Arena

 Posted by at 12:21 AM on March 4, 2013  No Responses »
Mar 042013
 
UK recruit Julius Randle tweeted this photo of him kissing the state championship trophy after Saturday's win.

UK recruit Julius Randle tweeted a photo of himself kissing the state championship trophy Saturday. Randle scored 34 points in the title game.

Wrapping up the biggest storylines of the weekend …

First, if you haven’t read it yet make sure you check out our Recruiting Predictions article from Sunday night. Several top national recruiting writers were kind enough to give us their thoughts on where Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle and Aaron Gordon will end up. (My predictions are in there too).

UK didn’t get a chance to see Dominique Hawkins over the weekend. The 2013 guard played games Friday and Saturday night in Richmond, and the Cats’ road contest in Arkansas meant no one from the UK staff could attend. After the Friday game, Hawkins told the Herald-Leader: “Since I was a little kid — I grew up as a Kentucky fan. It’s been my dream school.” UK will have no excuse for missing him this week. Hawkins and Madison Central play Wayne County at noon Wednesday in the first game of the Sweet Sixteen in Rupp Arena. UK’s next game isn’t until Thursday night at Georgia.

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Weekend recap: Dakari Johnson visits Kentucky

 Posted by at 1:33 AM on February 25, 2013  5 Responses »
Feb 252013
 
UK commitment Dakari Johnson posed for a picture with ESPN analyst Jay Bilas during his official visit Saturday.

UK commitment Dakari Johnson posted a picture of himself with ESPN analyst Jay Bilas during his official visit to Lexington on Saturday.

Wrapping up the biggest storylines of the weekend …

UK commitment Dakari Johnson finally got to take his official visit to Lexington. The 7-foot senior was at Sayre — where he attended middle school — on Friday, took in the ESPN Gameday festivities on Saturday morning and returned to Rupp for UK’s big win over Missouri on Saturday night. Johnson sat directly behind the Wildcats bench during the game, cheering along with the rest of the crowd while wearing a UK sweatshirt and hat. He later tweeted a photo from inside the UK locker room with the message: “Trying to hang one next year.” Johnson, who committed in January, can sign with Kentucky on April 17.

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A record five UK commitments named to Jordan game

 Posted by at 12:16 PM on February 12, 2013  4 Responses »
Feb 122013
 

Andrew Harrison is one of five UK commitments who will play in the Jordan Brand Classic on April 13.
Photo: Houston Chronicle

Kentucky set a Jordan Brand Classic record Tuesday when five future Wildcats were selected for this year’s game.

UK could even add to that record in the coming weeks.

Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee and James Young were all chosen to participate in the 2013 Jordan Brand Classic, to be played April 13 in Brooklyn, N.Y. It’s the first time five recruits from one school have been named to the event.

Three prospects whom UK is still recruiting — Aaron Gordon, Julius Randle and Andrew Wiggins — also were selected. They are the only uncommitted players in the game.

Kentucky has had 23 Jordan Brand selections since the game’s inception in 2002. Eighteen of those have come since John Calipari arrived in Lexington in 2009.

EAST ROSTER: Tyler Ennis (Syracuse), Aaron Harrison (Kentucky), Kasey Hill (Florida), Kuran Iverson (Memphis), Rondae Jefferson (Arizona), Kennedy Meeks (North Carolina), Bobby Portis (Arkansas), Julius Randle (uncommitted), Wayne Selden (Kansas), Chris Walker (Florida), Andrew Wiggins (uncommitted).

WEST ROSTER: Joel Embiid (Kansas), Aaron Gordon (uncommitted), Andrew Harrison (Kentucky), Dakari Johnson (Kentucky), Matt Jones (Duke), Marcus Lee (Kentucky), Jabari Parker (Duke), Noah Vonleh (Indiana), Troy Williams (Indiana), Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington), James Young (Kentucky)

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Wiggins, Gordon, Parker are Naismith POY finalists

 Posted by at 4:26 PM on February 7, 2013  No Responses »
Feb 072013
 

Huntington Prep forward Andrew Wiggins is one of three finalists for the Naismith Player of the Year Award.
Photo: Matt Goins

Two Kentucky recruits are among the three finalists for the Naismith High School Player of the Year award.

Uncommitted seniors Andrew Wiggins and Aaron Gordon join Duke commitment Jabari Parker on the list of finalists.

The winner will be announced March 19.

UK signees Andrew and Aaron Harrison were on the Naismith “watch list” released in December. Noah Vonleh (Indiana) and Rondae Jefferson (Arizona) were also on that list, but did not make the group of finalists.

Previous winners include Kevin Love (2007), Dwight Howard (2004), LeBron James (2003), Kobe Bryant (1996) and Jason Kidd (1992).

UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad was last year’s recipient of the award, which was first handed out in 1987.

Ron Mercer (1995) is the only Kentucky player to earn the honor.

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