McDonald?s All-Americans Joe Crawford, Randolph Morris and Rajon Rondo have signed to play basketball at Kentucky, head coach Tubby Smith announced Tuesday. The highly touted trio gives UK a four-man 2004 freshmen signing class that includes guard of New York City, who was inked during the fall signing period.
Crawford, a 6-4, 205-pound guard from Detroit?s Renaissance High School, is the nation?s top shooting guard and No. 9 overall according to Rivals.com. The two-time all-state selection averaged 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as a senior.
?In Joe Crawford, he’s probably a young man that we had a need for as much as any position, ? Smith said. ?He’s a guy like Gerald Fitch, an excellent scorer. I think he has the potential to come in here and make an immediate impact.?
Crawford led Renaissance to a 16-0 record and top-five national ranking as a senior, earning him state Defensive Most Valuable Player honors.
Morris, a 6-11, 250-pound center from Atlanta?s Landmark Christian, is rated the No. 3 center in the nation and the No. 10 player overall by Rivals.com. As a senior, he averaged approximately 25 points, 16 rebounds and 4.5 blocked shots in leading Landmark Christian to a 22-9 record.
?In Randolph Morris, we were really pleased to get him at such a late date, right at the end of the signing period,? Smith said. ?He’s a young man we’ve recruited heavily all year long and we were in a competition that was pretty stiff with other schools and the NBA. We were holding our breath and he?ll help us be a better team.?
Morris was a three-time All-State selection, while his AAU team, the Atlanta Celtics, claimed the league?s national championship last year.
Rondo, 6-1, 165-pound guard and Louisville native who prepped at Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, is the nation?s No. 3 point guard and 25th-best player overall according to Rivals.com. He averaged 21 points, 12 assists and three rebounds as a senior for Coach Steve Smith. As a junior at Louisville?s Eastern High School, Rondo was named first-team all-state and 7th Region Player of the Year.
?Rajon?s ability to penetrate and break people down off the dribble and distribute the ball is great,? Smith said. ?Plus, he is as athletic as he can be at his size. He is probably six feet tall, but he?s got great hands, great vision, and he has to develop into the type of defender that we know he is capable of being.?
Rondo tallied 14 points, four rebounds and four assists in the McDonald?s All-America game in just 15 minutes of action. He also recorded a career-high 31 assists during his senior season at Oak Hill.
Fall signee Adam Williams of St. Albans, W.Va., has decided to forgo his earlier commitment to UK and enroll in prep school.
