Michael Avery isn’t sure where he’ll attend high school next fall, but he’s already decided that he’ll attend the University of Kentucky for college. But that will have to wait a few years. The 6-foot-4 Avery, who is finishing eighth grade in Encino, Calif., has giving UK coach Billy Gillispie a verbal commitment, his father, Howard, confirmed today. “We’re very flattered and excited that Michael will have the opportunity to one day play at Kentucky,” Howard Avery said in a phone interview with The Courier-Journal. “After going through the thought process and talking to a lot of people, when you have a program like Kentucky wanting you, there’s not any better. They have a coach that appreciates what my son can offer. What else can you look for?” The elder Avery, who has a law practice in California, said his son has always had a goal to play at one of the nation’s elite college basketball programs. And he said the family thought about the early commitment, “absolutely we did,” but decided it was best to go ahead and make the decision. “Kentucky has always been one of those dream schools, like Duke and North Carolina,” he said. “Kentucky is crazy about basketball. Basketball is through and through there, the school, the town, the whole state. “Here we have USC and UCLA and they have great programs. But this is not a basketball town. You can’t beat Kentucky.” Scout.com national analyst Dave Telep said he has not seen the younger Avery play and warned that with early commitments, “Everything can change.” The trend in college basketball is for schools to take commitments from younger players. Last summer, Aurora (Ill.) guard Ryan Boatright – a member of the Class of 2011 – committed to USC as an eighth grader. Two players from the 2011 class already have announced their intentions, and 23 of The Hoop Scoop’s top 250 from the ‘10 class have already decided on a college. The Hoop Scoop has Avery ranked No. 45 in the ’12 class. “Generally speaking, college basketball has turned our calendar up so fast that we have created this idea that you have to get these commitments,” Telep said. “And across the board — low-major and high-major — schools are trying to get (younger) commitments. I think no matter if you are Utah State or North Carolina you feel the pressure of this urgency to get commitments and if we’re not careful it’s going to hurt our game.” Howard Avery said the courtship of his son by UK happened fast. He traveled to Culver (Ind.) Academy recently to check out the school and while on the visit, Michael was invited to play with the Indiana Elite team last weekend in Akron, Ohio. In the event, Gillispie watched the younger Avery and word got around that he liked his game. Howard Avery called the UK coach and he offered a scholarship. “We were not interested in 200 different scholarship offers,” the father said. “We just wanted one good one and a good coach and that came through, so we made the decision. We thought about it a lot. “It’s always been his dream school to play for. If it were any other school, then we might not have ended up with the same result.” Avery will attend either Culver or Encino (Calf.) Crespi Carmelite next fall. Ha ha unreal......Found it while researching my Derby selections
What utter nonsense. Its almost abuse on the part of the father. Did Vince McMahon buy the NCAA while I was out of the room? Its getting difficult to take college "athletics" seriously. I see where Memphis' entire starting five declared for the pros. I guess they finally figured out that Calipari never graduates a player.
Current AZ guard Nic Wise from Houston commited to Lute Olsen before HS, he had a great HS career here in Houston and won a State Championship before leaving for Tucson. I don't get it myself. In 4 years Gillispie could be gone from Kentucky or the kid might not have the type of HS career he'd hoped for and Kentucky wouldn't end up honoring their commitment to him. Seems stupid, but it's not really all that new, I think I remember that Steve Alford and Bobby Knight commited to each other when Alford was an 8th grader. Terry
I find that kind of disturbing. Way to early in a kids life. But it isn't binding. Unless they have an early signing period for 8th graders. :roll: :roll:
Are you sure about that? I don't recall that being the case, but my memory is not what it used to be. Sports Illustrated once had a feature article and cover photo about Bobby Knight's visit to Bedford, about 20 miles south of Bloomington, to watch 8th grade phenom Damon Bailey. Re: Culver. It's a nationally known prep/military school that always has been a boarding school for wealthy midwest families. They've never come close to being competitive in basketball here in indiana. If that kid wants a basketball school, he doesn't want Culver. There's a kid here in Ft. Wayne who committed to Ohio State as a HS freshman. So far, he is the real deal, having led his team this year to a state BB championship as a sophomore when they never before had gotten past the local level.
hahahahaha <t>You can't beat Kentucky?? Since when!?!?!? It seems that quite a few folks beat Kentucky regularly lately.<br/> <br/> The Pac10 delegation is LOLing at that claim.</t>
I think he probably was talking about you can't beat the Kentucky basketball reputation and legacy. Kind of like a football player saying that you couldn't beat Notre Dame. While the recent won/loss record would indicate that a whole lot of people "can" beat Notre Dame, a football player couldn't beat going to Notre Dame because their legacy indicates that they will be back on top.