‘We’re not going out there to be friends’: UK, Duke recruits know who’s first on the schedule

Six of the 24 players chosen for this week’s McDonald’s All-American game are headed to either Duke or Kentucky next season.

Four will be Blue Devils. Two will be Wildcats.

All six were asked Tuesday if they knew which team they’d be starting their college careers against a few months from now.

Duke signee RJ Barrett: “November 6^th. Kentucky.”

UK signee Keldon Johnson: “Duke.”

Duke signee Cam Reddish: “I think it’s Kentucky, right?”

UK signee Immanuel Quickley: “I think it’s Duke, yeah. November 6^th.”

Duke signee Tre Jones: “Kentucky, I think, right?”

The only one who didn’t know was Blue Devils commitment Zion Williamson, who didn’t pick Duke until late January and won’t be able to officially sign with the school until next month.

Williamson thought about the question for a few seconds, admitted he didn’t know the answer and was told it would be Kentucky.

“That’s the first game?!” he exclaimed with a big smile. “I didn’t know that was the first game.”

He knows now.

Kentucky vs. Duke, Nov. 6 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis should be quite the show, pitting what are likely to be two of the top college basketball teams in the preseason rankings against each other on the opening night of the 2018-19 season.

The freshmen who will play in that one have been getting a little head start on the pregame trash talk.

“It’s definitely going to be a lot of fun,” said Barrett, the No. 1 player in the class. “We have Immanuel Quickley and Keldon Johnson here talkin’ a whole lot of trash. But, nah, it’s just going to be fun. I’ve always wanted to play against Kentucky.”

Quickley, the Cats’ point guard of the future, said the talk has gone both ways this week.

“It’ll be a good playing field,” he said. “Zion and RJ and them, they’ve been talking a lot of trash. So we’re just looking forward to the game.”

Both teams will go into next season with national title hopes, and — depending on who returns from this season’s squads — the number of former five-star recruits on the court that night could be ridiculous.

Kentucky will also have Tyler Herro, one of the top-ranked high school seniors not at this week’s McDonald’s All-American Game. Either team could have EJ Montgomery, the No. 6 prospect in the 247Sports rankings, and one of only three McDonald’s All-Americans who came into this week uncommitted.

Both sides will still be working on jelling with their new rosters, and both will be thrown into the fire immediately against some of the best competition in the country.

“It’s going to be extremely fun, playing against those guys,” said Jones, arguably the top point guard in the class. “There’s always a lot of familiar faces in that game.”

He started smiling, glancing to his left, then laughed before he could finish his response. He nodded at Johnson, who was sitting a few feet away, listening in on the conversation.

“I saw him looking at me,” Jones said.

Johnson was nodding and grinning as his future opponent spoke. It’s all fun and games now, but the look said the Kentucky signee can’t wait to see the Blue Devils in Indy.

“There’s been a lot of talk,” Johnson said. “They’ve been talking trash. But we know that we’re going to come out there, and we’re going to get after them. We’re not going to hold back. I mean, we gotta do what we gotta go. We’re not going out there to be friends — none of that. We’re just going out there to take care of business.”

This story was originally published March 27, 2018 at 3:04 PM with the headline "‘We’re not going out there to be friends’: UK, Duke recruits know who’s first on the schedule."