Current Commits: Isaiah Briscoe
[caption id="attachment_174560" align="aligncenter" width="239" class=" "]
Via 247 Sports[/caption]
Isaiah Briscoe
Position: SG
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 210 lbs.
School: Roselle Catholic
Hometown: Newark, New Jersey
-Next in Line: Since Calipari’s arrival at UK we have seen 4 and 5 star players come to Lexington from many different areas across the entire country. One area that continues to produce talent for UK is the New Jersey/New York region. UK fans should be very familiar with some of the best players to come from there in the last several years. A few of these players include Doron Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and current UK center Dakari Johnson. Doron Lamb and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were both instrumental in leading UK to the 2012 National Championship. Lamb was the second leading scorer on that title team. Dakari Johnson had a terrific freshman season and could have left for the NBA, but is currently an important part of the best frontcourt in college basketball that has helped lead the Cats to a ridiculous 29-0 start. Next in line from the New Jersey/New York area to become a star at UK is Isaiah Briscoe. Standing at 6’3” and a very solidly built 210 lbs., Briscoe is a point guard that can do it all and should be able to create a dynamic duo at the position with Tyler Ulis next fall. If you don’t know much about the name Isaiah Briscoe at the moment, be prepared to hear his name called on often during the 2015-2016 campaign as he will follow in the footsteps of others that have called the New Jersey/New York area their home.
-Briscoe’s Recruitment: Early in the recruiting process Briscoe didn’t hear from John Calipari too often. He was hearing from nearly every school in the country except for Kentucky. It wasn’t until the Peach Jam last summer that Calipari saw something he liked in the 6’3 point guard. Maybe it was the 21 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.0 assists that he averaged per contest or maybe it was winning the Peach Jam title and taking home MVP honors. After that tournament the UK head coach decided he wanted Isaiah Briscoe to be his future point guard and turned up the heat in his pursuit of the 5-star recruit. After a couple of visits from Calipari and Kenny Payne early in the fall, Briscoe decided to officially visit UK on September 28, 2014. The very next day he received a highly coveted offer from the University of Kentucky to go along with his many other Division 1 offers. After visiting Missouri and St. Johns a couple weeks later, he narrowed his list down to St. John’s, Kentucky, and Connecticut and set a decision date for November 13, 2014. After his official visit to Kentucky, it was widely assumed that Briscoe would commit to UK whenever he made his decision. However, just like in the majority of recruitments of 5-star players there was late drama regarding his decision. In the week leading up to the decision there were reports that Briscoe was leaning toward becoming a local hero and playing for Steve Lavin and St. John’s. Because of all of the contradicting reports out there, his decision became even more widely anticipated and had fans clamoring to find the truth before it became public. On November 13, 2014, Isaiah Briscoe announced to the entire country on ESPNU that he would be playing college basketball at the University of Kentucky. He joined Charles Matthews and Skal Labissiere, who also committed during the same show, to give John Calipari a great start to the 2015 recruiting class. After initially saying he would wait until spring to actually sign with the Wildcats, he chose to sign his letter of intent the very next day on November 14, 2014. Briscoe is having a very solid senior season at Roselle Catholic (averaging 21.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game) before getting ready to play in the All-American games and prepping for the move to Lexington.
-Rankings: Briscoe is considered one of the premier 5-star talents in the country as indicated by his consensus top 20 ranking. He is also viewed as the #1 point guard in the 2015 class by nearly everyone, which is nothing new to John Calipari as he has coached his fair share of top ranked point guards in his career. He has held this highly regarded status as a recruit for a while now and doesn’t look to be letting it go after having a stellar senior season to this point. UK fans should be ready to welcome the next great point guard at Kentucky when he arrives on campus next fall.
Current Ranking:
ESPN- #13
Rivals-#10
247 Sports- Composite #13
Scout- #18
-Scouting Report:
Strengths: Weaknesses:
1. Scoring 1. Explosiveness
2. Ball Handling 2. Consistency in outside shot
3. Size/Strength 3. Defending
4. Basketball IQ
5. Court Vision
Jerry Meyer of 247 sports spoke with NJ Advance Media about Briscoe: “I love his physical, sort of composed nature of his game.”
-Bottom Line: Isaiah Briscoe may not have the athleticism of John Wall or the outside shooting of Brandon Knight, but his solid all-around game gives him the potential to be in the conversation of best Calipari coached point guards by the time he leaves Kentucky. His versatility is the strongest part of his game. He can score in any fashion, rebound, pass to the open man, break his man down off the dribble, and his strength can even allow him to post up smaller guards. He has everything you look for in a point guard, including the tough, win at all costs mentality that Calipari covets. One attribute that many scouts say that he needs to improve on is his explosiveness and quickness. Once he gets into the top quality strength and conditioning program at UK I expect this to improve significantly and not be an issue, especially considering his size and strength as a point guard. Assuming Tyler Ulis is back next fall, Briscoe should complement his style well since Ulis is the smaller, quicker, flashier guard and Briscoe plays a slower and more methodic style using his strength to maneuver around the court and punish smaller guards. Bottom line is Briscoe will be an important part of the team starting the day he arrives on campus. He should be able to form a dynamic duo with Tyler Ulis to lead one of the best backcourts in college basketball next year. The Big Blue Nation should get excited.
-Random Fact: His nickname is "Boogie" and he has a documentary on YouTube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBV0_fJr8Jo
...and he was also voted the biggest trash talker in the 2015 class by his fellow recruits according to a poll by USA Today's Jason Jordan.
-Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghzDvg-3LVM
-JWheel_KSR
Via 247 Sports[/caption]
Isaiah Briscoe
Position: SG
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 210 lbs.
School: Roselle Catholic
Hometown: Newark, New Jersey
-Next in Line: Since Calipari’s arrival at UK we have seen 4 and 5 star players come to Lexington from many different areas across the entire country. One area that continues to produce talent for UK is the New Jersey/New York region. UK fans should be very familiar with some of the best players to come from there in the last several years. A few of these players include Doron Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and current UK center Dakari Johnson. Doron Lamb and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist were both instrumental in leading UK to the 2012 National Championship. Lamb was the second leading scorer on that title team. Dakari Johnson had a terrific freshman season and could have left for the NBA, but is currently an important part of the best frontcourt in college basketball that has helped lead the Cats to a ridiculous 29-0 start. Next in line from the New Jersey/New York area to become a star at UK is Isaiah Briscoe. Standing at 6’3” and a very solidly built 210 lbs., Briscoe is a point guard that can do it all and should be able to create a dynamic duo at the position with Tyler Ulis next fall. If you don’t know much about the name Isaiah Briscoe at the moment, be prepared to hear his name called on often during the 2015-2016 campaign as he will follow in the footsteps of others that have called the New Jersey/New York area their home.
-Briscoe’s Recruitment: Early in the recruiting process Briscoe didn’t hear from John Calipari too often. He was hearing from nearly every school in the country except for Kentucky. It wasn’t until the Peach Jam last summer that Calipari saw something he liked in the 6’3 point guard. Maybe it was the 21 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.0 assists that he averaged per contest or maybe it was winning the Peach Jam title and taking home MVP honors. After that tournament the UK head coach decided he wanted Isaiah Briscoe to be his future point guard and turned up the heat in his pursuit of the 5-star recruit. After a couple of visits from Calipari and Kenny Payne early in the fall, Briscoe decided to officially visit UK on September 28, 2014. The very next day he received a highly coveted offer from the University of Kentucky to go along with his many other Division 1 offers. After visiting Missouri and St. Johns a couple weeks later, he narrowed his list down to St. John’s, Kentucky, and Connecticut and set a decision date for November 13, 2014. After his official visit to Kentucky, it was widely assumed that Briscoe would commit to UK whenever he made his decision. However, just like in the majority of recruitments of 5-star players there was late drama regarding his decision. In the week leading up to the decision there were reports that Briscoe was leaning toward becoming a local hero and playing for Steve Lavin and St. John’s. Because of all of the contradicting reports out there, his decision became even more widely anticipated and had fans clamoring to find the truth before it became public. On November 13, 2014, Isaiah Briscoe announced to the entire country on ESPNU that he would be playing college basketball at the University of Kentucky. He joined Charles Matthews and Skal Labissiere, who also committed during the same show, to give John Calipari a great start to the 2015 recruiting class. After initially saying he would wait until spring to actually sign with the Wildcats, he chose to sign his letter of intent the very next day on November 14, 2014. Briscoe is having a very solid senior season at Roselle Catholic (averaging 21.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game) before getting ready to play in the All-American games and prepping for the move to Lexington.
-Rankings: Briscoe is considered one of the premier 5-star talents in the country as indicated by his consensus top 20 ranking. He is also viewed as the #1 point guard in the 2015 class by nearly everyone, which is nothing new to John Calipari as he has coached his fair share of top ranked point guards in his career. He has held this highly regarded status as a recruit for a while now and doesn’t look to be letting it go after having a stellar senior season to this point. UK fans should be ready to welcome the next great point guard at Kentucky when he arrives on campus next fall.
Current Ranking:
ESPN- #13
Rivals-#10
247 Sports- Composite #13
Scout- #18
-Scouting Report:
Strengths: Weaknesses:
1. Scoring 1. Explosiveness
2. Ball Handling 2. Consistency in outside shot
3. Size/Strength 3. Defending
4. Basketball IQ
5. Court Vision
Jerry Meyer of 247 sports spoke with NJ Advance Media about Briscoe: “I love his physical, sort of composed nature of his game.”
-Bottom Line: Isaiah Briscoe may not have the athleticism of John Wall or the outside shooting of Brandon Knight, but his solid all-around game gives him the potential to be in the conversation of best Calipari coached point guards by the time he leaves Kentucky. His versatility is the strongest part of his game. He can score in any fashion, rebound, pass to the open man, break his man down off the dribble, and his strength can even allow him to post up smaller guards. He has everything you look for in a point guard, including the tough, win at all costs mentality that Calipari covets. One attribute that many scouts say that he needs to improve on is his explosiveness and quickness. Once he gets into the top quality strength and conditioning program at UK I expect this to improve significantly and not be an issue, especially considering his size and strength as a point guard. Assuming Tyler Ulis is back next fall, Briscoe should complement his style well since Ulis is the smaller, quicker, flashier guard and Briscoe plays a slower and more methodic style using his strength to maneuver around the court and punish smaller guards. Bottom line is Briscoe will be an important part of the team starting the day he arrives on campus. He should be able to form a dynamic duo with Tyler Ulis to lead one of the best backcourts in college basketball next year. The Big Blue Nation should get excited.
-Random Fact: His nickname is "Boogie" and he has a documentary on YouTube...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBV0_fJr8Jo
...and he was also voted the biggest trash talker in the 2015 class by his fellow recruits according to a poll by USA Today's Jason Jordan.
-Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghzDvg-3LVM
-JWheel_KSR
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