The Kentucky basketball spotlight might not be right for every player, but Rivals.com recruiting writer Krysten Peek thinks it will be just fine for 6-7 Keion Brooks, a five-star player from La Lumier in Indiana.
“Keion is a great kid. He’s very humble and well spoken and works hard in the gym,” said Peek. “I think he’ll be a great fit with the guys coming in and will gel with the team well. “Being on a high profile high school team like La Lumiere definitely prepped him for the Kentucky spotlight and I have no doubt that he’ll adjust well to all the attention that will come with next year’s team.”
Brooks will play in the Jordan Brand Classic April 20 in Las Vegas and Allen Iverson Roundball Classic on April 26.. He is ranked as the No. 4 small forward and joins Tyrese Maxey, Kahlil Whitney and Dontaie Allen in what is now the nation’s second-ranked recruiting class for coach John Calipari.
“The best thing about Keion as a player is he improves each and every time I see him. From the fall into the winter when I saw him at the Hoophall Classic, he looked stronger, his shot selection was better and he was faster in transition,” Peek said. “He finished with 25 points that game and was the MVP on a pretty stacked La Lumiere team.”
She anticipates his best position in college will be on the wing but knows with the Kentucky roster he may have to play more power forward next year in the role that PJ Washington has filled the last two years.
“Brooks does have the size in his 6-7 frame so he has the capability to play the four. There’s a ton of guards in next year’s roster with (Immanuel) Quickly, (Tyler) Herro and (Jemarl) Baker most likely staying and Maxey, Allen and Whitney coming in,” Peek said. “Make no mistake, this is a good problem to have and it will be interesting to see how the minutes are split between each player. This is a similar situation to when Wendell Carter committed to Duke and he thought he was going to be ‘the guy’ down low and then out of the blue, here comes Marvin Bagley III late in the game. Duke found a way to make it work and I think Cal knows he can make this group of talent work, too.”
Peek has seen Brooks enough to believe Calipari can shift him around as needed next season.
“Brooks is more of a hybrid guard, stretch four player so he can spread the wing in a small ball lineup and with his 6-7 build, defend the low post on the defensive side,” she said. “I believe every freshman entering college basketball out of high school struggles with the same thing and that’s the tempo of the game. Keion is no different and it will take some time to adjust to the speed of the game particularly in the SEC. But overall he will be fine.”
Kentucky freshman EJ Montgomery doesn’t know Brooks well but has seen enough of him to know what to expect.
“He is a good, physical player that could help any team,” Montgomery said. “He came to practice on his visit here and obviously liked it and I think everybody on our team thought he was a pretty good dude, too. I’m excited he is coming to Kentucky.”
