May 6, 2009

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s basketball program received a National Letter of Intent from Eric Bledsoe, Coach John Calipari announced on Wednesday.

Bledsoe, a native of Birmingham, Ala., averaged 20.3 points per game, 9.4 rebounds and 11.5 assists per game in his senior season at Parker High School in Birmingham. Rivals ranks the 6-1 point guard as the 23rd best player in the country, as well as the third best point guard in the nation in the 2009 class.

He joins fellow Alabamian DeMarcus Cousins (Mobile, Ala.) as the second player from that state to sign with the Wildcats this season. The two faced each other in the semifinals of the Alabama Class 5A state tournament, a game Bledsoe and his Parker teammates won 52-39.

In addition to Cousins, Bledsoe joins Darnell Dodson (Greenbelt, Md.), Kentucky Mr. Basketball Jon Hood (Madisonville) and Daniel Orton (Oklahoma City, Okla.) as members of UK’s 2009 signing class.

The late signing period runs through May 20.