Coach John Calipari’s recruiting prowess at both Memphis and Kentucky over the past part of the decade has been undeniably nothing short of sensational, bringing in 4 consecutive Top 2 rated classes over the last 4 seasons, that he has helped translate into perennial 1st Round Draft picks and an NCAA Championship.
But even Coach Cal has outdone himself this time by securing commitments from elite level Class of 2013 backcourt twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison in front of a packed Travis HS gym in their hometown of Houston, Texas. Andrew is the top rated PG while twin brother Aaron is the top rated SG, making it the first time in nearly a decade that the top two players at each position committed to the same team since Wayne Ellington and
ESPN’s recruiting guru Dave Telep called the blockbuster commitments the “best package deal in the history of college recruiting.” Consider the fact that while other top tier recruits have also become a tag team in college, it had to take time to develop the chemistry to operate in an efficient manor, while the Harrison Twins have played together their entire lives.
The Harrisons chose Kentucky over the University of Maryland and the Larry Brown led SMU Mustangs, giving the reason that the Wildcats were their best fit because they wanted to win right away. Securing two Top 5 ranked players for next season probably puts Coach Cal and Kentucky in the running for yet another Top 1 or 2 class in 2013, especially considering he’s in good standing with fellow Top 10 recruits like Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon, and Jabari Parker.
Point guard Andrew has already been compared to NBA stars like Chauncey Billups and Deron Williams while shooting guard Aaron already has NBA 3 point range and compares favorably with Joe Johnson or Brandon Roy.
I don’t know if it was posturing for the cameras or the naive thoughts of HS seniors but I thought I heard Andrew state that when beginning the announcement that “they’d be playing their next four years at Kentucky.” Add in Randle, Gordon, and/or Andrew Wiggins over the next few seasons and could we be talking NCAA dynasty?
Check out the Harrison Twins’ Live Commitment On ESPNU:
The Harrison Twins Impact At Kentucky:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
