The 42^nd McDonald’s All-American game was played last night in Atlanta. Kentucky is no stranger McDonald’s All-Americans, signing 33 since Calipari arrived in Lexington in 2009, the most of any school in that span. Last night’s game featured two more committed Wildcats, Tyrese Maxey and Khalil Whitney, and two UK targets, Jaden McDaniels and Matthew Hurt.

Let’s take a deeper look at one of the most enjoyable weeks in High School Basketball.

The Duo

Thus far, Kentucky is the only school in the country with more than one five-star commitment, the Wildcats have three. Two of the commits were featured in last night’s game, Tyrese Maxey and Khalil Whitney.

Tyrese Maxey scored a team-high 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting, including 3 of 6 three-pointers to go along with a pair of steals in 19 minutes of action for the West. Whereas, Whitney, who also played for the West, didn’t have his strongest performance finishing with only two points on 1 of 5 shooting in 15 minutes.

Maxey turned heads all week, and according to 24/7 Sports’ Evan Daniels and Josh Gershon, was THE standout player.

“It’s been a good week for 6-foot-3 combination guard Tyrese Maxey. Maxey showed up at the McDonald’s festivities in arguably the best shape of his basketball career. He looks visibly quicker and showed a burst in the open court. He also impressed with his finishing ability going towards the goal. Maxey was effective using runners and floaters, and also used high glass finishes over bigger defenders at the rim. A versatile guard, Kentucky can use him on or off the ball, as he’s playmaker that’s equipped to score on handle on ball duties.”

Whitney has a “dog mentality” and is excited to be a Wildcat, calling Kentucky his “dream school”. Whitney brings elite level athleticism, power, agility and leaping ability and according to John Calipari, can be a “monster” on the defensive end.

Tyrese Maxey and Khalil Whitney could be an electric De’aron Fox and Malik Monk like duo and I am ready for it.

Talking Trash

Tyrese Maxey and Khalil Whitney did their share of trash talking, particularly to Louisville commit, Samuell Williamson as he went on to say:

“Oh yeah, we’ve been going back and forth all week. I was telling them that we’re going to come into Rupp Arena next year and get a win, but Tyrese and Kahlil weren’t having that.”

They weren’t having that, Whitney went on to say “It’ll be a fun matchup going against those guys next year”, but when asked about who will win that matchup he said “Kentucky” with a grin.

Maxey was asked the same question and was insulted that was even a question.

“What? What kind of question is that?” he said. “Big Blue Nation, man.”

Talking trash to “little brother” at the McDonald’s All-American game isn’t anything new. If you remember, the 2016 class that featured De’Aron Fox, Malik Monk, Bam Adebayo, and Sach Kileya-Jones took this infamous “L’s down” picture.

Recruiting

Kentucky needs to add some more depth to next year’s frontcourt, and last night there were two very worth UK targets that could fill that void, Jaden McDaniels and Matthew Hurt.

Both have been very quiet about their recruitments thus far, but we found out earlier this week Hurt had set a decision date.

While Hurt and his family have been quiet, they aren’t afraid to talk about it.

Hurt will decide on April 19^th between the four most successful progams in college basketball history in Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina. While things look bleak for the Cats, Hurt’s father said there is no current leader in his recruitment and that “they [Kentucky] haven’t wavered in that at all. At all”.

Contrary to Hurt, McDaniels wants to stay away from it and keep to himself, saying, “I just don’t like talking about it, it’s just something I don’t talk about”.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that two Wildcat commits are making their pitches to the two in Atlanta, letting them know they can be a part of something special in Lexington.

Maxey and Whitney have tried to keep a balance of space and recruiting with the two and not to overbear them.

Maxey

“I know when someone has been annoying to me, so that’s why I only hit him up every now and then. Like if there’s a tweet that comes out or something that I see, when I see him in person, I’ll just tap him and say ‘Big Blue Nation’, I try not to be overly annoying because I wouldn’t like that.”

Whitney

“I’m recruiting both Matthew Hurt and Jaden McDaniels. Those guys are pretty chill with their recruitments. But they’ll give me a couple chuckles, you know, I’ll tell them, ‘Hey, we can team up and win a national championship’ and stuff like that. But they definitely tell me that Kentucky is a top option and we’re just waiting to see their decision.”

McDaniels and Hurt are two very offensively skilled big men, and adding just one to next year’s class will definitely help make a case to put the 2019 class as one of Calipari’s best at Kentucky.

Check out this Rivals interview with both Tyrese Maxey and Khalil Whitney