Kentucky men’s basketball commit Karter Knox spoke ahead of the 2024 McDonald’s All American game on Monday.
Knox, a 247Sports four-star and five-star composite recruit, committed to Kentucky in early March as the brother of former Kentucky legend Kevin Knox.
Coming from the Overtime Elite Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, Knox was selected to participate in the 2024 McDonald’s All American game, which is scheduled for Tuesday, April 2.
“It’s a blessing being selected,” Knox said. “Out of everybody in the world 24 players (make it so it’s) the best out of the best. Just being able to compete with the best is really a blessing.”
With Knox’s selection he officially completed the 26th pair of siblings to both compete in the McDonald’s All American games after Kevin did so in 2017. His brother dropped 15 points in the competition before coming to Kentucky for one season and was drafted by the New York Knicks.
“It was crazy, as a little kid watching the game and seeing him (Kevin) in the McDonald’s game,” Knox said. “Best of the best in the world, seeing him selected touched my heart. That’s what really inspired me to play basketball and keep going hard the way I do.”
Knox will be joining another large Kentucky recruiting class, this time one that includes Billy Richmond, Boogie Fland, Somto Cyril, Travis Perry and Jayden Quaintance. While there’s no confirmation as to which Cats from 2023-24 will return, the year will be pivotal for Kentucky after its upset loss in the NCAA Tournament versus Oakland.
Many fans had called for head coach John Calipari to be fired after the defeat, which marked the second first round upset in three years, but athletic director Mitch Barnhart opted not to make a change, though the pressure has never been higher for Calipari to succeed.
“Last year (UK) didn’t do too good in the first round,” Knox said. “Next year is going to be a whole different year, we’re gonna get past the first round and hopefully win the national championship. I’ve got Boog, Billy, some people coming back and we’re going to get together and build team chemistry.”
While winning “the big one” is clearly a goal for Knox, it’s far from the only factor that led to him picking Kentucky.
“At the end of the day I want to be a pro,” he said. “I’m gonna go there and work my butt off and get drafted.”
While that’s over a year away, the McDonald’s All American game is less than 24 hours away and Knox will take the court with two of his future teammates, Quaintance and Fland.
“They’re my boys,” Knox said. “I played with JQ at the Nike camp and Boog (with USA) so we already have some chemistry together and we’re going to have even more at Kentucky.”
The 2024 McDonald’s All American game will take place at the Toyota Center in Houston and will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET. Fans can tune in on ESPN2 to watch the game.
