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Towns finds his concentration on the golf course

 Posted by at 4:42 PM on June 15, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 152013
 
UK basketball commitment Karl Towns plays golf every Sunday. Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

UK basketball commitment Karl Towns plays golf every Sunday. “Sometimes I’ve just got to get away.”
Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — While the world’s best golfers are battling for the U.S. Open title Sunday near Philadelphia, one of the nation’s best high school basketball players will likely be on a golf course not far away.

New Jersey native Karl Towns is Kentucky’s only commitment so far from the class of 2014. Towns is considered one of the top five prospects in his class, and that ranking didn’t come easy.

The 7-footer is on the court or in the weight room six days a week, preparing himself for a summer with the Dominican national team and a college career at UK.

On Sunday, he hits the links.

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Karl Towns gives UK recruit Perkins a passing grade

 Posted by at 12:24 AM on June 15, 2013  1 Response »
Jun 152013
 
Josh Perkins will be a senior at Huntington Prep next season. He teamed up with Karl Towns on Friday night in Virginia. Photo: Karl Gehring/The Denver Post

Josh Perkins will be a senior at Huntington Prep next season. He teamed up with UK commitment Karl Towns on Friday night in Virginia.
Photo: Karl Gehring/The Denver Post

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Karl Towns has been committed to Kentucky for more than six months now, and he’s still the only member of the Wildcats’ class of 2014.

The New Jersey big man admitted Friday night that he could use a little company. He might have been playing with one of his future teammates just moments before speaking to reporters.

Colorado native Josh Perkins has been attracting the attention of UK Coach John Calipari in recent weeks, and the pass-first point guard was on the same squad as Towns during Friday night’s session of the NBPA Top 100 camp.

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Towns ready to get started with Dominican team

 Posted by at 11:44 PM on June 14, 2013  No Responses »
Jun 142013
 
Karl Towns made his first appearance at NBPA Top 100 Camp on Friday night.

Karl Towns made his first appearance at NBPA Top 100 Camp on Friday night.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A day after UK assistant Orlando Antigua was officially announced as the new Dominican national team coach, Karl Towns Jr. was talking about how he couldn’t wait to join the team.

Towns, who missed the first three sessions of the NBPA Top 100 Camp so he could play with his high school team, jumped in a car and drove seven hours to take part in the Friday night session.

He played alongside UK target Josh Perkins and helped lead his team to a victory. Afterward, he talked about preparing himself to compete with the Dominicans for the third consecutive summer.

“I just wanted to train so hard to really make my mark on the Dominican team this summer,” Towns said. “Make sure I’m fully prepared for the job they have me do. Especially with a new coach in Coach Orlando.”

There’s no set date or location for the beginning of the Dominican team’s training camp, but it’s expect to start sometime in late July or early August.

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Wiggins helps World win another Hoop Summit

 Posted by at 9:50 PM on April 20, 2013  2 Responses »
Apr 202013
 
UK signee Andrew Harrison scored 19 points for Team USA on Saturday night. Photo: Sam Forencich/USA Basketball

UK signee Andrew Harrison scored 19 points for Team USA on Saturday night.
Sam Forencich/USA Basketball

Andrew Wiggins helped lead the World Select team to a victory in the Nike Hoop Summit for the second consecutive year Saturday.

Wiggins scored 17 points to go with nine rebounds and four assists for the World, which won 112-98 over a Team USA squad that included UK signees Julius Randle, Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison.

UK commitment Karl Towns – whose mother is from the Dominican Republic – had seven points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench for the World team.

Wiggins, a native of Canada, scored 20 points to lead the World to a win over Team USA in last year’s Nike Hoop Summit, which is played in Portland, Ore.

Randle and Andrew Harrison each scored 19 points for the U.S., which was led by Duke commitment Jabari Parker’s 22 points. Randle had a team-high eight rebounds and Harrison dished out a team-high five assists.

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Hoop Summit: Karl Towns wows from 3-point range

 Posted by at 5:07 PM on April 15, 2013  5 Responses »
Apr 152013
 
New Jersey center Karl Towns will play for the World Select Team at the Nike Hoop Summit. Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

New Jersey center Karl Towns will play for the World Select Team at the Nike Hoop Summit.
Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

UK commitment Karl Towns Jr. has arrived in Portland, Ore., for Saturday night’s Nike Hoop Summit, and he’s already making a splash.

Hoop Summit officials tweeted Monday that Towns measured at 7 feet tall with a wingspan of 7’3.5″. Then, they tweeted that the junior center made 17 of 24 shots from behind the NBA three-point line. There was nobody defending him, but an impressive feat nonetheless.

Towns’ high school coach, David Turco, told the Herald-Leader on Monday that the future Wildcat has no plans to suit up for an AAU team this summer.

“He does not play AAU at all,” Turco said. “He really just works on his game and plays with the Dominican national team instead of AAU.”

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Wiggins, Towns named to Hoop Summit World team

 Posted by at 12:21 PM on March 26, 2013  5 Responses »
Mar 262013
 
New Jersey center Karl Towns will play for the World Select Team at the Nike Hoop Summit. Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

New Jersey center Karl Towns will play for the World Select Team at the Nike Hoop Summit.
Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

UK commitment Karl Towns and UK recruiting target Andrew Wiggins will join forces next month to take on three future Wildcats in the Nike Hoop Summit.

Towns and Wiggins were named to the Hoop Summit’s World Select Team on Tuesday. Wiggins scored 20 points and led the World team to an 82-75 victory in last year’s Hoop Summit. Towns is of Dominican descent and represented the Dominican Republic in last year’s Olympic trials. Wiggins was born in Canada.

The U.S. team was announced in January and includes UK signees Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison and Julius Randle. Uncommitted 2013 recruit Aaron Gordon is also on the squad.

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Kentucky recruits win state player of year honors

 Posted by at 11:45 AM on March 21, 2013  1 Response »
Mar 212013
 
Madison Central guard Dominique Hawkins has been named Kentucky's Gatorade Player of the Year. Photo: Tim Webb

Madison Central guard Dominique Hawkins has been named Kentucky’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
Photo: Tim Webb

The selections for Gatorade Player of the Year honors for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., were released Thursday, and several familiar names were on the list.

Starting close to home, Madison Central star Dominique Hawkins was named Kentucky’s Gatorade Player of the Year after leading the Indians to their first Sweet Sixteen championship in school history. Hawkins is now being recruited by Kentucky, which is waiting to see how its scholarship situation for next season works out before extending an offer.

Hawkins already has offers from South Carolina, Murray State, Morehead State and Western Kentucky, among others. He has said in recent weeks that he’s willing to wait on Kentucky.

In neighboring West Virginia, Andrew Wiggins of Huntington Prep took Gatorade state honors. Wiggins, who has narrowed his list to UK, Florida State, North Carolina and Kansas, accepted his Naismith Player of the Year award earlier this week. He’s regarded as the No. 1 overall player in all of high school basketball.

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Recruits visit Rupp Arena for UK-Florida game

 Posted by at 4:30 PM on March 9, 2013  2 Responses »
Mar 092013
 

Class of 2014 stars Trey Lyles and Goodluck Okonoboh were in Rupp Arena on Saturday for Kentucky’s possible season-saving victory over 11th-ranked Florida.

Lyles, the No. 4 overall player in the junior class, was making his fourth visit to Lexington since September. He wore a UK sweatshirt and tweeted before the game about sitting near Papa John’s founder John Schnatter.

The 6-foot-9 forward from Indianapolis recently narrowed his list to UK, Florida, Louisville, Duke, UCLA and Butler.

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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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Towns logs double-double with Calipari in crowd

 Posted by at 4:24 PM on February 17, 2013  2 Responses »
Feb 172013
 

New Jersey center Karl Towns is Kentucky’s only commitment from the class of 2014.
Photo: Newark Star-Ledger

UK Coach John Calipari tweeted Sunday that he and his staff would be on the road recruiting to close a disappointing weekend.

Calipari turned up in New Jersey, where he saw UK commitment Karl Towns tally 34 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks for St. Joseph’s in an 85-49 victory over Spotswood.

After the game, Towns tweeted, “Was great to see my future coach Coach Calipari at my game. Wish I was suiting up for #BBN but I got business to finish with #stjoesbball :) ”

In his last three games, Towns has averaged 32.3 points, 18.0 rebounds and 5.7 blocks. St. Joe’s is 19-4 this season (and 19-3 with Towns in the lineup). The Falcons’ next game is Wednesday.

Towns is UK’s only commitment from the class of 2014.

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