Kentucky women get commitment from Harlan County star Blair Green
Harlan County star Blair Green committed to the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team during an in-home visit with head coach Matthew Mitchell and assisstant Kyra Elzy on Friday.
Green, who averaged 18.9 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Black Bears as a sophomore, is one of the top players in a loaded in-state class of 2018. She’s rated as a three-star prospect by ESPN, which also ranks her as the fifth-best wing player in the junior class.
She selected Kentucky amid offers from Louisville, Dayton, Tennessee and UCLA.
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Who else could the Cats look at to turn their recruiting around?
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Green is Kentucky’s first commitment for the class of 2018. She is UK’s first in-state commit since last season, during which six players transferred (including a graduate transfer) and one was dismissed.
Debbie Hoskins Green, Blair’s mom and Harlan County’s head coach, was the first girl from Harlan County to ever sign with UK. She and Patti Myers Morris (mother of current UK sophomore Maci Morris) were teammates at Harlan Independent and led the program to its first 13th Region title in 1987.
Getting Green is a step in the right direction for a program that lost two high-profile commits in the last half of the year. Lindsey Corsaro, a McDonald’s All-American from Indiana, was released from her national letter of intent and signed with UCLA. Lindsey Duvall, who will contend for Miss Basketball honors this season at Bullitt East, picked Louisville after de-commiting from UK.
Since all that turmoil, Kentucky has signed just one player: Jaida Roper, a 5-foot-6 guard from Memphis who originally committed to Louisiana Tech.
Kameron Roach, a point guard from Hopkins, S.C., currently is UK’s only commitment in the class of 2017. Ogechi Anyagaligbo, a transfer from Stony Brook, has joined the program but will have to sit out until the 2017-18 season.
This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Kentucky women get commitment from Harlan County star Blair Green."