UK basketball signee Shai Alexander will play on national TV on Thursday
Kentucky basketball fans unfamiliar with new signee Shai Alexander will have an opportunity to watch him play on national television Thursday night.
Alexander — a 6-foot-4 prospect from Hamilton, Ont. — will lead Hamilton Heights Christian Academy (Tenn.) against Memphis East (Tenn.) in a battle of two of the nation’s top high school teams.
The game will be shown Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Hamilton Heights was ranked by MaxPreps.com as the No. 5 “independent” program in the country coming into the season, a list that included teams that don’t play for state titles and largely compete on a national level. Memphis East — coached by former NBA star Penny Hardaway — was No. 3 in the MaxPreps preseason high school rankings.
Alexander, who signed with UK earlier this month, is averaging 20.0 points per game for Hamilton Heights (3-1) so far this season. Scout.com ranks him as the No. 46 overall prospect in the class of 2017.
Hamilton Heights will also play two games in the Marshall County Hoop Fest in Benton, Ky., this weekend. Click here for more information on that event.
Ben Roberts: 859-231-3216, @BenRobertsHL
This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 1:10 PM with the headline "UK basketball signee Shai Alexander will play on national TV on Thursday."