NEW YORK — Jamal Murray is off to the NBA, as is Tyler Ulis, so it appears incoming five-star point guard De’Aaron Fox will be running the show at the University of Kentucky next season.
Murray leaving Lexington after one season came as no surprise, but the ascension of Ulis to SEC Player of the Year and projected first-round pick this June was a radical development — one that should work in Fox’s favor.
“Everybody thought he (Murray) was gonna leave at the end of the year,” Fox said Wednesday afternoon at the HSS Training Center after practice for the Jordan Brand Classic on Friday night at Barclays Center. “The biggest reaction was probably to Tyler. What he’s done, and everybody thought since he was small, he would play four years. He proved everybody wrong. He’s leaving some big shoes to fill.”
Of course, there is the matter of what happens to Isaiah Briscoe. The former Roselle Catholic star is expected to go through the NBA Draft evaluation process, then make a decision on whether or not to return to school. Wildcats head coach John Calipari tweeted on March 23 that all of his draft-eligible players — including the walk-ons — would take advantage of the new rules allowing players to get NBA feedback.
If Briscoe does return for his sophomore season, it would create an interesting dynamic in the Kentucky backcourt as he and Fox are both point guards. Fox is already projected as the No. 14 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by DraftExpress, while Briscoe is slotted at No. 43.
“It would be extremely good to play with Isaiah because Kentucky plays a lot of dribble-drive, and I feel like no one can stop his penetration, so he would get me a lot of open shots,” Fox said.
That situation will play itself out in due time, but for now, Fox is spending time this week with future teammates Malik Monk (DraftExpress No. 17 in 2017), Wenyen Gabriel, and Bam Adebayo (DraftExpress No. 8 in 2017). The group has been doing some recruiting as five-star center Marques Bolden continues to decide between Duke and the Wildcats.
“I’ve been threatened a couple times by Fox, so that’s pretty funny,” Bolden said. “He was just like, ‘You make that wrong decision I might have to just break your legs or something like that.’ It’s funny, though.”
Follow Josh Newman on Twitter
NJamal Murray is off to the NBA, as is Tyler Ulis, so it appears incoming five-star point guard De’Aaron Fox will be running the show at the University of Kentucky next season.
