Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could have been considered an afterthought when Kentucky initially put together its 2017 recruiting class. The Wildcats had five incoming McDonald’s All-Americans, and Hamidou Diallo would have been a sixth if he didn’t decide to enroll early.
Kentucky has found a new star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The NBA is taking note
The freshman guard was unstoppable in the SEC Tournament for the Wildcats.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t one of them. Of the eight freshmen John Calipari was bringing in, Gilgeous-Alexander was the seventh highest rated. He was but a four-star recruit, which is almost like wearing a scarlet letter in Lexington.
Forget all of that now. As Kentucky won the SEC tournament title with a 77-72 victory over Tennessee on Sunday, it was Gilgeous-Alexander who carried them there. He scored 29 points and added seven rebounds and three assists, in the process stating his case as the team’s best player right here, right now.
Gilgeous-Alexander looks like a star on the brink of the NCAA tournament
Gilgeous-Alexander is a 6’6 point guard who thrives on getting to the basket and leveraging his length to create opportunities for himself and others.
Gilgeous-Alexander is Kentucky’s fastest ball handler in the open court. He’s a crafty finisher when he gets in close, able to side-step to keep defenders off-balance and finish with either hand.
He’s also a quality playmaker who averaged 5.1 assists per game this season. SGA’s signature ability in the halfcourt is making something out of nothing and producing looks for open teammates.
Kevin Knox was the beneficiary on this play:
SGA started to emerge at the end of December, when he dropped 24 points on Louisville, 21 points on Georgia and 18 points on LSU in three consecutive games. He was great again at the SEC tournament and feels like he’s playing his best ball of the year right now.
The NBA is taking notice.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s NBA draft stock
SGA will be a lottery pick when SB Nation releases its new mock draft on Monday.
Shooting is considered the weakness in his game, but he’s still hitting 38 percent of his threes this season. He’s also an 80 percent free throw shooter, which shows he has good mechanics to work with when it comes to building a shot.
Simply put, Gilgeous-Alexander is so good at so many other aspects of the game that shooting won’t hurt his stock much.
Kentucky is surging as winners of seven of its last eight games. Shai’s star turn is the main reason why.
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