Julius Randle says he has no problem with the Harrison Twins and would consider joining them and Andrew Wiggins in a potential blockbuster recruiting class at Kentucky in the fall of 2013.
“I think I’ve said it before, we would have the best class, if not the best class they’ve had before,” the 6-foot-9 Randle out of Plano (Texas) Prestonwood Christian told SNY.tv Wednesday by phone from the Under Armor Elite 24 game in Venice Beach, Calif.
Randle, the Harrison Twins and Wiggins are all slated to compete in the game Saturday night on ESPNU.
The 6-7 Wiggins is mulling reclassifying to 2013 from 2014 and his brother, Wichita State wing Nick Wiggins, recently said he’d like to see Andrew move to 2013 and go to Kentucky.
Wiggins out-dueled Randle at the Peach Jam in July in a highly publicized game that we covered here, but Randle said if Wiggins pulled the trigger for Kentucky, he would consider joining him there.
“Yeah, I’ve talked to Andrew a little bit,” Randle said. “If he went to Kentucky I wouldn’t consider not going there. I like Andrew and I like his game a lot. Like I’ve said before, playing with other great players makes the game easier.”
Speaking of great players, Randle said he has no problem with Aaron and Andrew Harrison and isn’t sure where the Internet rumors to the contrary came from.
“Yeah, I don’t know where that came from, but that’s not true at all,” Randle said.
“I mean, people try to start rumors all the time. I don’t know if it’s for Websites or anything, but I have no problem playing with them.”
Kentucky and Baylor are among the schools recruiting both Randle and the twins, who are set to announce Oct. 29.
“Yeah, for sure, I’d consider playing with them,” Randle said. “I mean, just playing with great players make the game easier itself, so of course I’d consider playing with them.”
Still, Randle is still mulling multiple options, including North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma State among others.
He recently took an unofficial to Oklahoma State that went well.
“Yeah, I’ve been to Oklahoma State this past week,” he said. “It was great. The boosters there have put a lot of money into the facilities. They’re getting players that they need and they’re really building their program up.”
As far as their pitch to Randle, the staff says, “They would just pretty much let me be myself. A lot of different things on the court, but also help me develop in other areas, too.”
Randle says he has no visits scheduled right now.
“I think after Elite 24 is done with, I’ll sit down and see where I want to go,” Randle said.”
As of now, he’s looking at announcing in the spring, well after the Twins pull the trigger.
“I think the spring is a better decision for me, but I’m not going to rule out the fall,” he said.
What’s the advantage of the spring?
“Pretty much the players and you can see the head coaches,” he said. “It will give me another chance to study their systems. I haven’t really studied systems since I’ve been recruited, but it gives me a chance to really look at the coaches.”
As for the game, he’s fired up to play with a number of players, including the Twins and Kansas commits Brannen Greene and Connor Franlamp.
“I’m always excited,” Randle said. “Playing with the Twins is fun, Brannen Greene, Isaac [Hamilton]. I haven’t played with Conner Frankamp yet, but I’m looking forward to that.”
