P.J. Washington, the 6-foot-8 forward from Frisco, Texas and Findlay Prep (NV), committed to Kentucky over North Carolina and UNLV on Thursday on ESPNU.
“Just the way [Coach John] Calipari uses his players and gets them to the next level,” Washington said. “And I thought that would be great for me.”
Washington is Kentucky’s second Class of 2017 commit, following 6-11 big man Nick Richards of The Patrick School (N.J.), who committed earlier Thursday. Those two can slot in in the frontcourt in case Bam Adebayo or other frontcourt players head to the NBA.
ESPN now ranks Kentucky with the No. 5 recruiting class in 2017.
Washington said Calipari compared him to other former Wildcats now in the NBA.
“He told me he’ll use me like Trey Lyles and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, play me with no positions and just dominate the game,” he said.
Washington attended Kentucky for an official visit in September, and was at Big Blue Madness in October along with fellow Class of 2017 stars Mohamed Bamba, Quade Green, Trae Young and Kevin Knox.
“It was great,” Washington said. “The fan base was amazing. I got to see many of the past players and it just felt like a big family.”
“It was an unofficial for him so we didn’t really spend a lot of time with coaches,” Paul Washington Sr., the Findlay Prep coach and P.J.’s father, said after the visit. “It was good. The only thing we were looking for is the fans, that old Big Blue Nation. There was definitely a lot of people for sure.”
Kentucky brought out a slew of former players for the event, including current NBA guys John Wall, Boogie Cousins and Willie Cauley-Stein.
“I think every high school kid looks at the college that they want to go to and how many people they have in the pros and the one thing that that stands out with Kentucky is [John] Calipari puts them in the league at a rapid rate,” Paul said. “I heard somebody say that most coaches probably don’t have five players in the league, he’s got five people on one team in Phoenix. So that’s big-time, that’s big-time.”
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