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What's the impact of five-star Immanuel Quickley's Kentucky pick?

Immanuel Quickley
Immanuel Quickley (adidas)

CATSILLUSTRATED.COM: Quickley's a Cat: Five-star picks Kentucky

Friday night during an announcement at his high school, five-star Immanuel Quickley selected his longtime leader Kentucky. What does his decision mean for the Wildcats and his other finalists Kansas and Miami?

Incredibly, Quickley is the 14th five-star point guard to commit to John Calipari during the Rivals.com era and the 12th since he arrived at Kentucky in the spring of 2009. Many of those guys have been big and physical playmakers and Quickley certainly fits that mold.

He will give Kentucky a steady playmaker, a guy who can get into the lane an elite defender and perhaps a bit better shooter from the point guard position than Kentucky fans have seen.

That Calipari sees Quickley as one of his next pros, was always big for Quickley during the recruiting process.

"I think Coach (John) Calipari says basically what he says to every other kid he recruits," Quickley said of Calipari's pitch during the summer. "He only offers pros so for him to think I'm a pro is a humbling and a blessing, so that's really cool."

Moving forward, Kentucky would like to add another perimeter playmaker who can play multiple positions and score from outside. So, not surprisingly guys like 2018's No. 1 player R.J. Barrett and five-star combo guard Quentin Grimes are big targets. Another huge target for the Wildcats is No. 2 ranked Zion Williamson a player with whom Quickley has a close relationship and he said the potential of a package deal was a real thing during July.

“The past Adidas events we were roommates every time and I got to talk to him a lot. He likes to brag more than people think but he’s cool and I like him a lot. It’s (package deal) definitely something that we talk about, it’s not a joke at all so we are going to see what happens.”

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Whenever a high profile prospect like Quickley makes his choice, it means that there were a few schools left on the outside looking in. In this case, Kansas and Miami were the Bridesmaids. Because Quickley was open throughout the past few months of the process about Kentucky being his leader, the Jayhawks and Hurricanes both knew they were fighting an uphill battle.

Still, it's important to look at how (if at all) much missing out on Quickley stung and where they go from here.

Kansas:

Sting factor: 6

Where they go from here: Bill Self and the Jayhawks knew that they were fighting a bit of an uphill battle with Quickley, so the real sting here is that it takes one possibility off the table in their quest for a high-level 2018 playmaker. As if five-star guards Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson weren't already important targets, they've become must-haves. Ideally the Jayhawks would like both but will be happy to have either. Perhaps they could look to turn up the heat a bit more on five-star Ayo Dosunmu?

Miami:

Sting factor: 4

Where they go from here: At the very least, Miami would have liked to pitch Quickley during an official visit, but Hurricane Irma forced a cancellation and he never made it to campus. So in that regard, him picking Kentucky doesn't hurt too bad. This weekend, Miami is hosting four-star Eric Ayala and it will undoubtedly turn things way up with him. They are in the final three for top 50 scorer Jalen Carey and Canadian Luguentz Dort is one they are a sleeper pick for, so there are still options.

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