As the Early Signing Period was underway on Wednesday, November 14th, so was Tyrese Maxey’s official signature for the Kentucky Wildcats. Head coach John Calipari’s first 2019 recruit to officially sign inked his name at South Garland High School on Wednesday morning.
Maxey, the ninth-ranked recruit in the 247Sports rankings, stands 6’4, 185 pounds. The combo guard will be Kentucky’s highest-ranked guard since De’Aaron Fox in 2016.
Per UK Athletics, Calipari had nothing but praise for the first official member of his 2019 recruiting class.
“I love Tyrese’s basketball savvy,” Calipari said. “He has an elite ability to score the ball, yet he creates shots for his teammates, he defends and he rebounds. In all the time I’ve watched him play, rarely does he make the wrong play. He may not make every shot, but he almost always make the right play,” he said.
The talented signee is coming off a gold medal win in this year’s FIBA Americas U18 Championship. He’s also received other awards, such as 2018 USA Today All-Texas first team & 2018 Dallas Morning News Sports Day Player of the Year.
Maxey is the first of three commits to sign, as in-state recruit Dontaie Allen is expected to sign on Friday, November 16th. Khalil Whitney, the team’s top-ranked recruit, has yet to release a signing date but reports have it that the date could linger beyond this fall.