Quickley: 10 Things To Know About UK's Next Point Guard

John Calipari has his point guard for the Class of 2018. Immanuel Quickley, a five-star prospect out of Maryland, made his commitment official on Thursday when he signed his National Letter of Intent to the University of Kentucky. The Wildcats led from start to finish in the race for Quickley, and that race is officially over with his signature on the paperwork. Now it's time for you to get familiar with Kentucky's next point guard (if you're not already) with 10 Immanuel Quickley facts you need to know.

	Immanuel Quickley Point Guard (2018) | 6-3 | 175 lbs. Bel Air, MD | John Carroll School AAU: Team BBC ★★★★★
	ESPN	No. 12 | 3 PG	Top247	No. 13 | 2 PG
	Rivals	No. 10 | 2 PG	Scout	No. 8 | 3 PG

 

1. He chose Kentucky over Kansas and Miami in the end.

Quickley was considering two other schools -- Kansas and Miami -- in the final stages of his recruitment, so he says. Kansas brought him in for an official visit prior to his official to UK; his trip to Miami was called off due to Hurricane Irma. There was some late chatter that Kansas had made a move, but it turns out that wasn't the case and it was Kentucky in the end, as expected.

2. Calipari's track record is the reason he picked UK.

Quickley wanted to go to the program that will best prepare him for the NBA, and nowhere does it better than Kentucky.

3. He was the first point guard in his class to receive a UK offer.

Calipari had his eyes on a couple of points guards in the Class of 2018, but Quickley was the top priority of the bunch for the Wildcats. He received his scholarship offer back in October of last year, making him the first point guard on the board with the option to attend UK. Another 2018 point guard with an offer, Quentin Grimes, is still considering Kentucky, too.

4. Joel Justus was the lead recruiter.

UK assistant coach Joel Justus spearheaded Quickley's recruitment for the Cats. He made several trips to see the five-star point guard and Quickley once said in an interview that he talks to Justus on a daily basis. You can see some of Quickley's in-home visit with Justus and Coach Cal here via a video from the Quickley family.

5. He attended Big Blue Madness 2016.

Quickley made the drive from Baltimore to Lexington last fall to see the welcoming party for the 2016-17 Kentucky Wildcats in Rupp Arena. He and several other UK targets -- including Quade Green, P.J. Washington, Nick Richards and Kevin Knox -- were in attendance for Big Blue Madness on an unofficial visit to Kentucky in mid-October.

6. He grew closer to Calipari over the summer with Team USA.

Quickley got an early taste of what it is like to play for Calipari while playing for the U19 team in Egypt. Their time together gave UK an advantage in the recruitment, Quickley admitted after returning to the States with a silver medal. “Everyone wants to know if him coaching me was an advantage because he’s one of the coaches that’s recruiting me," he wrote in his USA Today blog. “And I’d have to say it was.”

7. He plays the drums in his church.

That's cool.

8. He's into pottery.

From Quickey's personal blog on USA Today High School Sports:

I’m loving my Ceramics class. It’s just cool to build things like cups and boxes and things like that.

UK's College of Fine Arts offers several ceramics courses, ranging from intermediate to advanced.

9. He can really play.

See for yourself:  

10. He is very good friends with Zion Williamson.

And he knows what to do.

---

Article originally published September 22, 2017 following Quickley's verbal commitment to UK. Re-published November 9, 2017 to celebrate his signing.

---