UK MBB Signees Herro, Johnson Selected for Jordan Brand Classic
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Kentucky men’s basketball signees Tyler Herro and Keldon Johnson will be featured on one of the brightest stages in high school basketball as a part of the annual Jordan Brand Classic.
The future Wildcats, two of UK’s 2018 signing class, were among 25 players selected Thursday. The annual game, featuring some of the best high school talent in the country, will take place April 8 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Johnson, along with the third piece of Kentucky’s star-studded class, Immanuel Quickley, will also play in the McDonald’s All American Game on March 28 in Philips Arena in Atlanta. Johnson was tabbed to the Naismith Trophy High School All-America Second Team earlier this week and Quickley was an honorable mention.
UK has had multiple players compete in every Jordan Brand Classic during the John Calipari era, including six in 2013. Since Calipari’s arrival, 35 total players have been selected for the Jordan Brand Classic game.
All told, 40 Wildcats have played in the game. A full list of JBC alumni can be found at jordanbrandclassic.com/history/.
A 6-foot-6 shooting guard out of Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, Johnson is a consensus five-star player and one of the best in the class of 2018. A native of South Hill, Virginia, he previously played for Huntington Prep in Huntington, West Virginia, before transferring to Oak Hill for the 2017-18 season. Johnson is ranked as high as the No. 6 overall prospect by ESPN. 247Sports ranks him as the nation’s No. 13 overall player while Rivals has him at No. 14.
Johnson led his Boo Williams (Va.) AAU team to the semifinals of the Peach Jam after averaging 20.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists during the Nike regular season. Johnson took home MVP honors at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in June. Johnson, who is averaging 22.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists for powerhouse Oak Hill this season, was one of 54 players selected for the USA Basketball Junior National Team minicamp in October.
Herro is having one of the best seasons in the country among all high school players nationally. Herro, out of Whitnall High School in Greenfield, Wisconsin, is averaging 32.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.3 steals per game.
Herro, a 6-5 shooting guard, is connecting on better than 50 percent from the floor, 43.5 percent from behind the arc and could eclipse 100 3-pointers in the state playoffs. He’s scored 40 or more points in eight games this season. The top-ranked player out of Wisconsin, Herro is tabbed No. 25 overall by ESPN, No. 32 by 247 Sports and No. 35 by Rivals. Like Johnson, he was one of 54 players selected for the USA Basketball Junior National Team minicamp in October.
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.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
