UK men's basketball weight room. Sand box. July 20, 2017. Photo by Chet White | UK Athletics
In postseason all-star games, other star players certainly did not take point guard Quade Green for granted. Most wanted to be around his infectious personality, one reason that Kentucky coach John Calipari made him a recruiting priority last season.
“Just to watch him and see how all the players took to him was kind of neat. Everybody wanted to be on the floor with him,” said Carl Arrigale, Green’s high school coach in Philadelphia, said. “He was under a lot of pressure all season with what he had to do for us and trying to live up to the UK thing.
“He played free and had fun in the all-star games. He wanted to break the assists record in one game and came up just short. He was not shooting at all. He just wanted assists. That’s how he is.”
Green will have plenty of assists opportunities at Kentucky with the stars on his team. But Arrigale said not to underestimate Green’s toughness.
“He puts up a tough bravado that he is invincible,” Arrigale said. “He is a man’s man. He is always talking hoops or challenging someone to try something against him and arguing about who is better.”
But Calipari has been impressed. Very impressed. “Quade is better than I thought he was, which is a good thing,” Calipari said. “I knew there were some things, but he is fine. I did not know he was this fast and he said he did not know, either.”
Calipari asked him why he was playing faster at UK than he did in high school. Green’s answer? He told Calipari that the coach said if he didn’t play that way, he would not play.
“That’s good for other guys to hear,” Calipari said.
The 6-1, 170-pound Green averaged 20.7 points, 7.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game for Neumann-Goretti High School in Philadelphia.
“He has the profile to play at Kentucky,” veteran national sports writer Dick “Hoops” Weiss of Philadelphia said. “He’s an excellent passer, finds the open man and has command of the ball on the court. I think he will really help Kentucky in that he doesn’t have to score a million points, but he can score when called on. Some guys automatically think of themselves as stars, but he is not the type of kid that feels he has already conquered the world and is just waiting for the draft.”
Green is not known as a scorer, but he hit 52 percent of his shots last season and was a 38 percent shooter from 3-point range and 87 percent foul shooter.
“There’s no question he has the mental toughness to be here. He’s a tough, gritty guard who is not afraid of the big stage, big lights,” Kentucky assistant coach Kenny Payne said. “But he has to be prepared. He is going to see a multitude of guards his size, guards that are super fast, guards that are really athletic, guards that are bigger and shoot the three. The good thing is he will be learning along with Hamidou (Diallo) and Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). They can grow together.”
Kentucky assistant Joel Justus certainly agrees.
“He’s a guy with a great court presence. He’s a great facilitator and floor general. Quade can get after it on defense and he plays with tremendous energy,” Justus said.
Green did not try out for the USA under 19 team that Calipari coached during the summer. Payne said not being on the team did not hurt Green going into this season.
“He got in here and got implemented with our weight training and individual instructions. Those guys play so much summer ball and camps together that they are used to being together. That won’t impact him at all,” Payne said.
Green has a terrific work ethic. He also has a terrific belief in his ability to make a team better.
“I bring that swagger with me. It’s business on the court, but we’re also going to have fun. That’s the main thing: Have fun and take things personal,” Green said. “I’m going to listen to everything he (Calipari) tells me and learn and do my job. He’s a hard worker. He’s dedicated to what he does. He’s very energetic and a great coach. I can’t wait to get going for real.”
