UK men’s basketball announced Wednesday that the top shooting guard in the 2017 recruiting class, Hamidou Diallo has signed the financial papers and is enrolled in class for the spring semester.

Diallo is a consensus top-ten prospect among recruiting sites and will begin practicing with the team immediately. The 6’5” guard is eligible to play immediately this season, but is expected to wait to see game action until the 2017-18 season.

“I’m blessed and excited to be here at the University of Kentucky,” Diallo said. “I can’t wait to hit the floor and get rolling and get better each and every day. I chose the University of Kentucky because the plan Coach Cal had for me was just phenomenal and I felt like this was the best place for me to achieve my goals. I felt like this was the best choice for me and my family.”

The guard graduated in May from the Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut, and comes to UK as the team’s fifth signee in the 2017 recruiting class, along with five-star signees Quade Green, Nick Richards and P.J. Washington, and four-star signee Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Diallo comes to UK from Queens, New York and gives the team an extra wing with the athleticism and physical gifts to be an excellent scorer and defender.

“What excited me was that Hamidou wanted more than anything else to train with our guys and to practice and wasn’t worried about playing games this year,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “It gives him an unbelievable head start on next year, and as I told him, he’s being put in a position to lead next season because he’s going to have that head start on everyone else.