Shaedon Sharpe is headed to Portland. (Vicky Graff Photo)
It took seven picks before Shaedon Sharpe learned of his destination on Thursday night.
Sharpe, who enrolled at Kentucky last semester, but didn’t play in his short stint in Lexington, was selected as the No. 7 overall pick in the NBA Draft by Portland.
“I feel like I got more to prove just because I (didn’t play) for like a whole year,” said Sharpe after a pre-draft workout with the Trail Blazers on June 15. “So it’s kind of skipping a step, kind of. But I feel like I’m doing good throughout this process and everything.”
Sharpe worked out for the Blazers alongside Jeremy Sochan, Dalen Terry, Jamaree Bouyea, John Butler and Jordan Hall and his workout was enough to convince Portland to draft the former Kentucky enrollee.
Sharpe, a 6-foot-6, 200-pound guard, from Ontario, Canada, was the top prep player in the Class of 2021 before he reclassified and enrolled at Kentucky. Sharpe practiced with the team, but didn’t play last season.
“It’s cool to say I’m a little mystery, but being a basketball player, I feel like you should always want to have a chip on your shoulder, just prove to yourself you could be the best player,” said Sharpe. “Really, I want to go to a team where I can just compete. Get involved with everything, get my teammates involved in stuff, but the main thing is really just competing.”
Sharpe also worked out for Oklahoma City, Orlando, San Antonio and New Orleans prior to the draft.
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Keith Taylor is the sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at Keith.taylor@kentuckytodaycom and via Twitter at keithtaylor21.
6 Responses
Tim came to UK when EVERYONE was chasing him ! Especially Spurrier.
We owe it to him to bring Junior on board – develop him and see where he fits.
Good for Shaedon Sharpe, but it is time to move on. He will always be remembered as the star who never payed a minute for UK, he just used the system. Calipari’s system.
Now we are left with Oscar and a bunch of runts. Where’s the beef? I sure wish a James Lee and a Josh Harrelson type player would walk on to KY. It’s clear that Calipari isn’t recruiting that kind of player or just can’t.
I like Ware or Collins could be that player.
Could be if they bulk up this Summer.
Maybe it will be Ware