Posted on Wed, Apr. 30, 2008

Junior transfer commits to UK

CLASS OF 2010 STANDOUT ALSO SAYS YES

By Jerry Tipton

JTIPTON@HERALD-LEADER.COM

Josh Harrellson will have three years of eligibility at UK.

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Because ambition ultimately trumped proximity, junior college big man Josh Harrellson committed to Kentucky Tuesday.

Harrellson, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound player, hoped to stay close to his St. Charles, Mo., home because of family problems that included his parents' divorce. He tried to get Missouri interested, but Mizzou had no scholarships available. He then considered St. Louis, where first-year coach Rick Majerus gave the Billikens credibility.

Kentucky acted as a counterweight. UK lacked a geographical advantage. But Kentucky could sell tradition, exposure and the perennial hope of contending for championships.

Two days after declaring himself "confused and torn," Harrellson cast his lot with UK.

"The only reason I didn't want to go to begin with is because it's five hours away," Harrellson said on Tuesday. "I can't let the decision be ruled by distance.

"This is more important. This is my future. Maybe I can solve the family problems with this."

He meant by getting noticed as a Kentucky player and then continuing his basketball on a for-pay basis, either overseas or in the NBA.

"I really was just lost," Harrellson said when reminded of the confused-and-torn statement. "I really thought about it. Where would be the better program, more exposure? Where can I go further at?"

Harrellson, who will have three years of eligibility for Kentucky, averaged 14 points and 7.5 rebounds for Southwestern Illinois College this past season. That was only his fifth year of playing for a school team.

"I've been blowing up every year," he said of his improvement. "I work as hard as I can, and I want the best."

Harrellson signed out of high school with Western Illinois. When he asked out of the commitment, the school refused.

Southwestern Illinois Coach Jay Harrington, a Kentucky native, vouched for the player's improvement. "He is the only member of his family to ever go to college," Harrington said. "He just wanted to get it done."

Harrellson had considered Iowa, Iowa State, St. Louis, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky before narrowing his choice to UK or St. Louis.

Harrellson joins an incoming UK crop that includes another junior college player, wing Kevin Galloway of the College of Southern Idaho, and two high school prospects: Darius Miller of Mason County and DeAndre Liggins of Chicago by way of Nevada-based Findlay Prep.

Harrellson expects to be a contributor at Kentucky.

"Coach (Billy Gillispie) plans on me to come in and start," Harrellson said. "If I don't start, it'll be my fault."

Harrellson envisioned himself teaming with Patrick Patterson and taking some of the defensive attention away from Patterson.

When asked about stepping up to UK's level, Harrellson said, "I'm pretty confident. I'm going to take these couple months to prepare." By that, he said, he meant getting stronger and bringing a more consistent effort.

"Crashing the boards every play," he said. "I kind of take breaks every once in a while."

Top-10 prospect chooses UK

Dominique Ferguson, a top-10 national prospect in the high school class of 2010, committed to Kentucky on Tuesday, the recruiting Web site Scout.com reported.

Ferguson attends Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. He is an athletic 6-8 forward generally regarded among the nation's top prospects.

"This is an elite-level player," recruiting analyst Dave Telep of Scout.com said. "There are commitments and elite-level commitments. ... One of the things you're going to get with him is a solid mix of post and perimeter skills."

Going into this past season, the Prep Stars recruiting service rated Ferguson at No. 10 in his class. Prep Stars analyst Brick Oettinger noted Ferguson's play in an all-star event this spring in Arkansas. "He was awfully impressive," Oettinger said.

Ferguson joins forward Dakotah Euton and guard K.C. Ross-Miller as players from the class of 2010 committed to Kentucky.

Kecman commits to Ohio State

Forward prospect Nicola Kecman committed to Ohio State over Kentucky, his junior college coach said on Tuesday. Kecman, a forward with three-point shooting range, had been targeted by UK.

Tim Walsh, his coach at Eastern Arizona College, cited academics as a reason for the decision, noting OSU's aviation engineering program as key.

"That really settled it," the junior college coach said. "That's what he wants to get into, and he was very impressed with what Ohio State had to offer."

Kecman was the second prospect to get away from UK this week after big man Ater Majok committed to Connecticut.

Kentucky recruits

Players who have signed with Kentucky or committed orally to the Cats:

Signings for 2008-09

Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown High school/college

Darius Miller SG 6-6 215 Maysville Mason County

DeAndre Liggins PG 6-5 190 Chicago Findlay Prep

Kevin Galloway-x G/F 6-7 200 Sacramento, Calif. College of Southern Idaho

Commitments for 2008-09

Josh Harrellson F 6-9 260 St. Charles, Mo. Southwestern Illinois College

Commitments for 2009-10

GJ Vilarino PG 6-0 160 McKinney, Texas McKinney

Commitments for 2010-11

Dakotah Euton-y PF 6-8 215 Ashland Rose Hill Christian

K.C. Ross-Miller PG 6-0 170 Irving, Texas God's Academy

Dominique Ferguson F 6-9 200 Indianapolis Lawrence North

x-Galloway played a season at Southern California and one at Southern Idaho before transferring to UK, where he'll have two seasons of eligibility. y-Euton is transferring to Scott County this fall.

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