With Kentucky point guard Tyler Ulis headed to the NBA Draft, incoming floor general De’Aaron Fox says he’s ready to assume the mantle for the Wildcats.
“I’m happy for him of course,” Fox, the 6-foot-3 guard out of Katy (TX) Cypress Lakes told Evan Daniels of Scout.com at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Ore. “He had a fantastic year this year but other than that, with him leaving that’s basically just giving me the keys to the program. If Isaiah [Briscoe] comes back, we’ll be the point guards next year. Tyler’s a great player and it’s big shoes to fill.”
Sources said Briscoe, the former Roselle (N.J.) Catholic star, is expected to go through the NBA Draft evaluation process and then make a decision from there.
So far, Ulis, Jamal Murray and big man Skal Labissiere have declared for the Draft. Kentucky coach John Calipari previously said all of his players — including the walk-ons — would take advantage of the new rules allowing players to get NBA feedback, and possibly attend the NBA Pre-Draft Combine, before electing to remain in the Draft or pull out by May 25.
Fox is already projected as the No. 4 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com, but said he doesn’t feel any pressure to follow in the line of Calipari point guards that includes Tyreke Evans, John Wall, Brandon Knight, Marquis Teague and now Ulis.
“No, I don’t feel any pressure,” he said. “I’m going in to play basketball. I know a lot of people are going to be expecting big things of me but I don’t want it to be pressure…I’d just rather not feel it.”
Still, he will have big shoes to fill in replacing the 5-9 Ulis, the reigning SEC Player of the Year.
“I’ve coached a lot of great leaders and great point guards in all my years of coaching,” Calipari said. “Tyler Ulis is the best floor general that I’ve ever coached.
Asked what he brings, Fox, who has drawn comparisons to Wall, said, “Leadership, speed, defense, just an all-around guy. Whatever you need a point guard to be, I feel I can be that guy.”
NN
