John Wall makes his pick

John Wall, the top-ranked high school basketball player in the country, is heading to the University of Kentucky.

Wall plans to have a press conference on Wednesday to make his official announcement, but the Raleigh Word of God point guard confirmed at school this morning that he will join the Wildcats.

"I had a group of great schools, and I admire them all," Wall said today. "But the relationship I had with Coach Cal [Kentucky coach John Calipari] was the biggest factor."

Asked if it was a difficult choice, Wall said that once he sorted through his options, picking Kentucky, "was an easy decision."

Memphis had been the leader for the 6-foot-4 point guard before Calipari left the Conference USA program this spring for the head coaching job at Kentucky.

Wall also was being recruited by Duke, N.C. State, Baylor, Miami, Florida and Kansas. Although North Carolina coach Roy Williams telephoned Wall from the Final Four, the Tar Heels never officially joined the hunt.

Wall said Calipari has not promised him a starting role or guaranteed him playing time.

"He told me that it would be competitive, and I'd have a chance to compete for the starting job," Wall said. "I'm looking forward to graduating from high school and moving on to my college career."

At Kentucky, Wall will play for Calipari and could follow the path of Derrick Rose, the 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year who played one year under Calipari at Memphis.

As a freshman, Rose led Memphis to the 2008 NCAA
title game before leaving school, as the Chicago Bulls made Rose the first pick of the 2008 NBA draft.

By adding Wall, Kentucky cements what scout.com analyst Dave Telep said might be one of the strongest recruiting classes of all time. Telep rates Wall as the second-best player in the Class of 2009.

The Wildcats’s class also includes 6-foot-9 forward DeMarcus Cousins of Mobile, Ala, who’s rated No. 3 by Telep, and 6-foot 9 center Daniel Orton of Oklahoma City, who Telep rated No. 17. The class even includes another top point guard, Eric Bledsoe of Birmingham, Ala.

Telep said that when this Wildcats recruiting class joins a roster that already includes talented forward Patrick Patterson, there will be high expectations that Kentucky will play in the Final Four in Indianapolis next season.

"I think right now everybody’s on notice," Telep said. "This is old school Kentucky right now, and the rest of the country has been served notice. This is the real deal. These guys are coming after players, they're getting guys, and they have a powerful product to sell."

After failing to get Wall, Triangle schools Duke and N.C. State likely are done recruiting for this fall's incoming class, Telep added.

Duke is bringing in McDonald’s All-America post players in 6-foot-10 Ravenscroft product Ryan Kelly and 6-foot-11 Miles Plumlee of Christ School in Arden, N.C., near Asheville.

State's six-player class includes highly regarded 6-4 guard Lorenzo Brown of Roswell, Ga., and 6-7 forward Richard Howell of Marietta, Ga.

Both schools have commitments from point guards in the Class of 2010.

"There's not a guy out there right now that you go to (to replace Wall)," Telep said. "After you don't get John, it was a chance. It was a chance taken and a chance well worth taking. But I don't think you can go out and replace him now. I don't think that's what they're
thinking.”

— Staff writer Ken Tysiac contributed to this report.