Former Kentucky Star Tyrese Maxey Signs with LeBron James' Agent, Rich Paul

Kentucky Wildcats freshman guard Tyrese Maxey is signing with Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Thursday. 

Maxey declared for the 2020 NBA draft on April 6.  

"My thoughts were that we would be playing for a national championship [today]," he told Malika Andrews of ESPN after his announcement. "Although we're unable to do that due to what our country is experiencing, I felt like this was the day to declare for the draft to make it as special as I thought today would be."

Kentucky head coach John Calipari praised Maxey after the prospect made his announcement, saying he pushed the freshman harder than any of his teammates:

Maxey responded by averaging 14.0 points and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field—though just 29.2 percent from three. But he showed enough potential to be a projected lottery pick in the 2020 draft. 

The Athletic's Sam Vecenie had him as the No. 12 player on his April 2 big board, and B/R's Jonathan Wasserman projected him to be the No. 12 selection, to the Sacramento Kings, in his most recent mock draft. 

Wasserman noted Maxey has "clear shot-making skills" and added "previous Kentucky guards have blossomed with more NBA space." He also noted that his "lack of explosiveness and playmaking lower his perceived ceiling, but his pull-up game, floater, advanced finishing and NBA body hint at a high floor."

As for Kentucky, his departure was just one of many in an offseason exodus that few teams could recover from easily:

But the Wildcats also have an incoming class that features three 5-star recruits (Terrence Clarke, BJ Boston and Devin Askew) and three 4-star prospects (Isaiah Jackson, Lance Ware, Cam'Ron Fletcher), per 247Sports' composite rankings. 

Never underestimate Calipari on the recruiting trail.