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Highly-touted 2013 shooting guard James Young commits to Kentucky

calipari

Mike Miller

6-6 shooting guard James Young made the news that many expected to hear official, as he verbally committed on ESPNU to attend Kentucky next fall.

“I will be heading to the University of Kentucky,” said Young on the telecast while holding up a Kentucky t-shirt.

Young is the fourth member of Kentucky’s 2013 class, joining twins Aaron and Andrew Harrison (both are guards) and power forward Derek Willis.

Like the Harrison twins, Young is a Top 10 prospect according to each of the major recruiting websites.

Young, who hails from Troy, Michigan, picked the Wildcats over Michigan State, Kansas and Syracuse.

He’s a 6-6 lefty who can score from anywhere on the floor and his size will allow for the Wildcats to use him at the three, which is likely given the presence of the Harrison twins.

This summer he played with The Family AAU program alongside guards Wes Clark (committed to Missouri) and E.C. Matthews (committed to Rhode Island).

As for Young’s decision to commit to Kentucky, many felt that once he received an offer from the Wildcats back in June it was a matter of “when” as opposed to “if.”

And as was discussed last week when the Harrison twins announced their decision, Kentucky certainly isn’t done with the 2013 class.

Aaron Gordon and Marcus Lee, two very good front court prospects from California, remain on the board as does 6-9 Texan Julius Randle and there’s that Andrew Wiggins quandary (2013 or 2014?) to consider as well.

John Calipari gets another outstanding prospect, and given what the Kentucky program has done both on the floor and in the NBA Draft in recent years that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

Raphielle is also the assistant editor at CollegeHoops.net and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.