Five-star Tyrese Maxey Has OSU in Top 5; Set to Announce Decision Next Week

Five-star point guard Tyrese Maxey, the No. 2-rated point guard in the 2019 class and the No. 13 overall player nationally, announced on Thursday that he’ll make his college commitment public next Wednesday, May 9.

Even more notable: The blue-chip prospect from Garland, Texas, named Oklahoma State in his final cut of schools along with Texas, Michigan, Michigan State and Kentucky.

I WILL BE COMMITTING TO……… ? pic.twitter.com/PTeLSRhko2

— Tyrese Maxey (@TyreseMaxey) May 3, 2018

Maxey is a 6-foot-3, 185-pound prospect, and one of the very best overall players regardless of classification. He has one-and-done potential not only because of his ability to quarterback an offense, but his competitiveness and athleticism that is rare from the point guard position.

So it’s a big deal that he’s named OSU in his final five. Especially because of this behind-the-scenes tidbit: Many believe that Maxey, despite being listed as a Class of 2019 prospect, will eventually reclassify to 2018, making him eligible for the upcoming season — the goal for him being to gain eligibility for the 2019 NBA Draft.

But unfortunately, this may be as far as OSU gets with Maxey. Kentucky and John Calipari have Maxey on lock down; he’s almost certainly Lexington-bound. It’s just a matter of if that comes to fruition in 2018 or 2019.

In fact, a recent SEC Country poll that took votes from four different analysts as recently as this week all predicted Maxey was a UK lock. He’s even talked with Calipari about making the move from 2019 to 2018 with hopes of gaining eligibility for next season.

“Me and Coach Cal have talked about [reclassifying] multiple times,” Maxey told SEC Country. “He’s just saying it would be a great opportunity for me to be a part of this special team that he’s building for next season. Just looking at the roster, you see a lot of talent and a lot of high-character guys that are going to be able to play well together. That’s what Coach Cal does: he makes all these kids that they say are selfish play as one and they become great.”

Adding Maxey to the commitment list, whether it would be for 2019 or even 2018, would undeniably be a boon for Mike Boynton and his staff still seeking help at the point guard position. But barring an unforeseen falling out between he and Kentucky, OSU’s on the outside looking in, which leaves Isaac Likekele, who is visiting OSU this weekend (beginning Thursday), the current top target to fill a roster spot alongside Michael Weathers and Mike Cunningham in the 2018 backcourt.