Shai Alexander has joined Kentucky’s 2017 class.
A couple of days ago, John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats landed commitments from a pair of five-star big men (Nick Richards and P.J. Washington). Today, they added a four-star guard to a class in Shai Alexander.
A 6-4 guard from Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Alexander ranks as the #44 player in the 2017 class by ESPN, #43by 247 Sports, #53 by Rivals, and #46 by Scout.
Alexander, who is sometimes listed with the hyphenated last name Gilgeous-Alexander, is a long and athletic point guard who excels at creating for his teammates and has the size and athleticism to turn into a high-level defender for the Wildcats.
Alexander was committed to Florida for a long time, but reopened his recruitment last month and has now found a home at Kentucky.
Here’s Scout.com’s Evan Daniels on Alexander:
“The thing that sticks out to me the most is his facilitating and ability to be able to pass and create shot opportunities for his teammates,” said Daniels. “He’s a really talented passer. He’s got really good size for the position, good length, good quickness. He just finds ways to get in the paint.
Alexander had a busy summer. He averaged 15.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists a contest in the Nike circuit this before he represented Team Canada at the FIBA U18 tournament in Chile.
After that, he won a spot on the Canadian senior national team that competed in the Olympic qualifying tournament in the Philippines. Alexander was the youngest member of the team by more than four years.
Kentucky is still in the hunt for a handful of five-star point guards, including Quade green and Trae Young, but the belief is that Alexander could share the backcourt with either of them.
In fact, Jerry Meyer of 247 Sports believes his best position is shooting guard.
“I like him best as a shooting guard,” 247 national analyst Jerry Meyer recently told the Herald-Leader. “He also has point-guard-type playmaking from that position. So he’s a double threat at the guard position, which fits in very well with how Coach Calipari wants to play. He can create for himself and others off the dribble. He can really score. He rebounds well for his position. He has nice length. He’s just an overall good player.”
Alexander is the third member of Kentucky’s 2017 class, joining the aforementioned Richards and Washington.
