UK’s men’s basketball commitments will play in the annual high school all-star game on April 1
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky men’s basketball team’s 2020 signing class will be well represented at the 2020 McDonald’s All American Game.
Fall signees BJ Boston and Terrence Clarke are the latest “burger boys” who will play in the prestigious all-star game before heading to UK next season. They were named the 24-man rosters announced Thursday on ESPN’s “The Jump” on ESPN.
UK is one of three schools with multiple selections.
This 43rd edition of the game is set for April 1 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
With the latest selections, UK has signed 37 players McDonald’s All Americans out of high school during the John Calipari era, more than any other school in the country during that time period. Multiple players from each of Calipari’s signing classes have been tabbed McDonald’s All Americans, including five each in 2013 and 2017.
Kentucky has signed 69 (McDonald’s All Americans since the game began in 1977, including current Wildcats Nick Richards (2017), EJ Montgomery (2018), Immanuel Quickley (2018), Tyrese Maxey (2019) and Kahlil Whitney (2019).
Tickets for the 2020 McDonald’s All American Games are on sale now at tix.avs.com and the Toyota Center box office (866.446.8849).
UK’s current signing haul, which also includes Devin Askew, Cam’Ron Fletcher, Isaiah Jackson and Lance Ware, is going to be in the mix for one of the top classes in the nation yet again. ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports currently rank UK’s class No. 1.
In every season in the Calipari era, the Wildcats have signed a top-three recruiting class according to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index, which tallies major recruiting rankings and plugs them into a formula to calculate a consensus ranking. With the fall additions, Kentucky has signed 59 top-50 recruits, 48 top-25 players and 24 top-10 players (according to Rivals) in what will now be Calipari’s 12 recruiting classes at Kentucky.
UK can only comment on prospects who have signed official paperwork with the university. The spring signing period begins April 15.
Final Team Recruiting Rankings in the Calipari Era
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| Rivals | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 247Sports | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| ESPN | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| RSCI | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
BJ Boston
At 6-7, 185 pounds, Boston is a consensus five-star prospect who is playing at Sierra Canyon High School (Chatsworth, California) for his senior season. Over the summer, playing alongside and against some of the best players in the country, Boston averaged 22.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game in the Nike EYBL circuit. At Sierra Canyon he’s posting 19.7 points per game.
“BJ is one of the best basketball players in the country,” Calipari said in the fall. “He can score from anywhere on the floor with his length and his athleticism and he finishes really well in traffic. He’s versatile enough to play two or three positions. On top of BJ’s basketball ability, what I love about him is he wants to play with other great players. He’s already doing that on the high school level and wanted the challenge of competing with and against the best every day in practice here.”
Boston is considered one of the top shooting guards in the class and is ranked as high as No. 6 overall by ESPN. He earned 2018-19 MaxPreps Boys Basketball Junior All-American Team Honorable Mention distinction after averaging 18.4 points, 5.4 rebounds 1.9 steals while leading his previous high school in Norcross, Georgia, to the state semifinals last season. He’s a 2019-20 All-USA Preseason High School Boys Basketball Team selection and was also on the 2020 Naismith Trophy High School Boys watch list.
Terrence Clarke
Like Boston, Clarke is 6-7 and 185 pounds. The consensus five-star prospect from Boston is playing his high school ball at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire and enjoyed a sensational summer season. Playing in the Nike EYBL, Clarke showed he’s one of the game’s best young scorers with a 16.2 average to go along with 5.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Not only will he be an early favorite to score the basketball for Kentucky next season, but he also has the tools to be a shutdown defender.
“Terrence is one of the most talented basketball players in the country regardless of class,” Calipari said after Clarke’s signing. “He has a toughness to him that the Big Blue Nation is going to really love. When he came on his visit, he saw firsthand the type of effort and work we expect of our players and immediately decided this was the type of environment he wanted to be in. Terrence has all the tools you look for in a kid: length, athleticism, toughness and a high basketball IQ. I’m looking forward to coaching him.”
Clarke is currently the top-ranked signee of this UK signing class. Both Rivals and 247Sports consider him the No. 4 overall player in the class with 247Sports assigning him top shooting guard honors. USA Today named him to its All-USA Preseason High School Boys Basketball Team, and like Askew and Boston, he’s also a 2020 Naismith Trophy midseason candidate.