Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Malik Monk, De’Aaron Fox Could Team Up for College
Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox, the two top available guards in the Class of 2016 and projected lottery picks in the 2017 NBA Draft, could end up at the same school.
That’s hardly a secret considering Fox recently talked to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com about the two teaming up.
Kansas and Kentucky are the two schools the players have in common and they are coming off visiting both schools together for their Midnight Madness events.
“Oh yeah I do [think we could play together], we’ve talked about it,” Fox said at the recent USA Basketball mini-camp in Colorado. “We were in the Bahamas together. We were there for a couple days together. We talked about the recruiting process. It’s not set in stone that we’ll go to the same school but it’s a possibility.”
Now here comes Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smithtelling The 4 Quarters Podcast on Wednesday that he believes Fox and Monk could end up at the same school after speaking with Harry Giles — who visited Kansas and Kentucky with Monk and Fox.
“Fox and Monk both went to Kansas with him and they were both at Kentucky with him, so he kind of told me where they’re leaning but I’m not saying” Smith said. “I’m keeping my mouth shut.”
Asked if Giles said he thinks both players will land at the same place, Smith said, “I think he feels like they might. Those guys all talk to each other. He talks to Jayson [Tatum] and he talks to those other guys on the visits and it sounded to me, Harry didn’t necessarily say it, but it sounded to me like they might be going together somewhere. But I don’t know if it’s a 100 percent a sure thing, but they visited some of the same schools obviously.”
The 6-foot-5 Fox is down to Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville and LSU and is done with his visits.
The 6-3 Monk is considering Arkansas, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Oregon and will take his last visit to Arkansas over Halloween weekend.
Fox specifically highlighted Kentucky’s past success with two point guards in his interview with Givony.
“Some point guards want to play together,” Fox said. “Some twos are coming into point guards, guys talk about playing together at the next level. At Kentucky with John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, they’re both point guards in the NBA and they both came together at Kentucky. Guys want to play together, guys want to play with elite players at their position. It’s competitive every day. You don’t want to go to a practice and it’s not competitive, you just run through people.
“With all of our elite guards, people are going to try to play together and try to get to the NBA together.”
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox, the two top available guards in the Class of 2016 and projected lottery picks in the 2017 NBA Draft, could end up at the same school.
That’s hardly a secret considering Fox recently talked to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com about the two teaming up.
Kansas and Kentucky are the two schools the players have in common and they are coming off visiting both schools together for their Midnight Madness events.
“Oh yeah I do [think we could play together], we’ve talked about it,” Fox said at the recent USA Basketball mini-camp in Colorado. “We were in the Bahamas together. We were there for a couple days together. We talked about the recruiting process. It’s not set in stone that we’ll go to the same school but it’s a possibility.”
Now here comes Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith telling The 4 Quarters Podcast on Wednesday that he believes Fox and Monk could end up at the same school after speaking with Harry Giles — who visited Kansas and Kentucky with Monk and Fox.
“Fox and Monk both went to Kansas with him and they were both at Kentucky with him, so he kind of told me where they’re leaning but I’m not saying” Smith said. “I’m keeping my mouth shut.”
Asked if Giles said he thinks both players will land at the same place, Smith said, “I think he feels like they might. Those guys all talk to each other. He talks to Jayson [Tatum] and he talks to those other guys on the visits and it sounded to me, Harry didn’t necessarily say it, but it sounded to me like they might be going together somewhere. But I don’t know if it’s a 100 percent a sure thing, but they visited some of the same schools obviously.”
The 6-foot-5 Fox is down to Kentucky, Kansas, Louisville and LSU and is done with his visits.
The 6-3 Monk is considering Arkansas, Florida State, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Oregon and will take his last visit to Arkansas over Halloween weekend.
Fox specifically highlighted Kentucky’s past success with two point guards in his interview with Givony.
“Some point guards want to play together,” Fox said. “Some twos are coming into point guards, guys talk about playing together at the next level. At Kentucky with John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, they’re both point guards in the NBA and they both came together at Kentucky. Guys want to play together, guys want to play with elite players at their position. It’s competitive every day. You don’t want to go to a practice and it’s not competitive, you just run through people.
“With all of our elite guards, people are going to try to play together and try to get to the NBA together.”
