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It’s just one sportswriter’s opinion but it certainly one most Kentucky fans hope will turn out to be true.
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie recently moved UK freshman Justin Edwards to the No. 1 spot in his 2024 NBA mock draft.
Kentucky coach John Calipari has had three overall No. 1 picks at UK — John Wall in 2010, Anthony Davis in 2012 and Karl-Anthony Towns in 2015.
Kentucky did win the national title in 2012 and I will always believe should have won in 2010 when the Cats could not make a 3-point shot in an Elite Eight loss to West Virginia and 2015 when UK started 38-0 before losing in the Final Four to Wisconsin. In those three seasons, UK lost only a combined six games.
“Edwards is an athletic, bigger wing who has a well-rounded game,” Vecenie wrote. “He consistently plays hard and has an excellent feel for the game. Defensively, he’s all sorts of versatile and plays with attention to detail across the board.”
Edwards was a consensus top five player in the 2023 recruiting class and part of UK’s No. 1 overall recruiting class. He had a 23-point game in Canada in July and averaged 14 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game in just 25 minutes of play.
“He’ll be Kentucky’s best player this year, ahead of highly rated recruits such as DJ Wagner, Rob Dillingham, Aaron Bradshaw and others,” Vecenie wrote. “Edwards was very confident taking 3’s, even though he only made 30 percent of them.
“I buy him being a bit more polished than some of these other guys, capable of playing well on both ends of the floor at an important position of value (a combo three/four) and especially able to drive toward the rim.”
One Response
Edwards did look good the final 3 games in Canada. With the bigs we have, he should be able to play the 3 spot where he will be a tough matchup for most teams. He needs to work on his 3 point shot and take fewer of them. He is strong enough to take kids to the basket or pull up for a 15 footer. It will be interesting to see how the bigs affect the run game and the pressure defense that we saw in Canada. The key will be Wagner’s willingness to share the ball. With 10 kids wanting and deserving starter’s PT, there won’t be a 20 point scoring average unless someone gets pampered and selfish.
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