Kentucky Basketball Recruiting: Meet 5-Star Recruit Julius Randle

It's time for the next great recruit to join John Calipari at Kentucky. With Nerlens Noel and Archie Goodwin heading to the NBA coupled with last year's struggles, it was time to reload in Lexington.

It's become part of the norm for Big Blue Nation to enjoy top-notch recruits each year since Calipari took over the Wildcats. They've been spoiled with highly skilled big men such as DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones and Nerlens Noel. 

Next up is Julius Randle. 

Randle hasn't signed his letter of intent yet, but he gave his verbal commitment to Kentucky last month. 

Much like Calipari's other top recruits, don't expect to see Randle playing at Rupp Arena for longer than one year. So, sit back and enjoy the skills of Randle.

Let's meet the No. 2 recruit in the nation. Julius Randle. 

Measurables

Julius Randle was born in Dallas and honed his game while playing at Plano Prestonwood Christian Academy. 

He won the Elite 24 dunk contest in 2012 as well as co-MVP at the Jordan Brand Game last Saturday. He scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the Jordan game. 

Randle is 6'9", 240 pounds and is ranked as high as second on Rivals rankings and third on ESPN's top 150. He is ranked as the top power forward and also participated in the McDonald's All-American Game.

The Texan selected Kentucky over Florida, Kansas and Texas. 

High School Production

Randle actually missed most of his senior year when he fractured his foot in the second game of the season. 

However, he was able to come back for the final five games of the season and lead Prestonwood to its second consecutive TAPPS 5A State Championship. Randle poured in 40 points in the semifinals and 34 points in the state championship game. 

His most impressive accomplishment may have come in 2012 when he lead the United States to a gold medal in the U-18 Americas Championship. Randle lead the team scoring over 14 points per game and also averaged over six rebounds. 

Randle may not average over 30 points per game with the loaded class coming into Kentucky, but he's definitely capable of having a break out 40-point game.  

Strengths

Randle's biggest strength is he is a basketball player. There may not be a more versatile player in the class of 2013 than the Kentucky recruit. 

At 6'9", Randle can play both with his back to the basket while also stepping out and drilling an outside jumper. He has a tremendous first step and can also handle the ball extremely well for his size. He will be a mismatch for most power forwards he goes up against next season. 

Randle is also an excellent rebounder, and with his size, can battle on both the offensive and defensive sides of the glass. 

Besides being a great scorer, Randle is extremely athletic and runs the floor exceptionally well. With the best point guard in the class in Andrew Harrison joining him at Kentucky, expect Randle to look fly down the court to capitalize on Harrison's passing ability while showing off the dunks that won him the Elite 24 dunk contest. 

Weaknesses

There are few things not to like about Randle's game, but the biggest, and maybe only, weakness for Randle is his defensive game. 

That being said, Randle has never been forced to play lock-down defense as he is a mismatch at the high school level. The one thing Calipari will do at Kentucky is make Randle learn how to play team defense or you will see a lack of minutes. 

With his offensive game being so far advanced, Calipari can spend time teaching Randle the fundamentals of defense and make his game even more balanced. 

The other thing the Dallas native needs to work on is cutting down turnovers. While using his strength to back down opponents in high school, he will need to work on post moves to dominate at the college level. 

As long as Randle keeps his body in shape, these weakness will only disappear at Kentucky.   

Projected 2014 Role

Julius Randle is going to be the star of arguably the greatest recruiting class of all time. He will be the starting power forward from day one in Lexington. 

He will lead the team in scoring but it won't be an outlandish number like he is used to. With a balanced and deep team next year, expect Randle to score around 15 points per game. 

He will be expected to be the go-to guy when the team needs a basket due to his ability to beat people off the dribble or play in the post. While Andrew Harrison will create due to his playmaking ability, expect Randle to be a facilitator due to defenses being forced to pick and choose how to attack him. 

It's tough to call it the Julius Randle era because there are six McDonald's All-Americans joining him in Kentucky. But, like Anthony Davis, he will be the one most remembered in years to come.

He's that special.