Mater Dei’s Devin Askew commits to Kentucky

Devin Askew is planning to flip his wardrobe, trading Santa Ana Mater Dei red for Kentucky blue.

The five-star basketball prospect and one of the nation’s top guards in the 2021 class announced on Thursday night his commitment to Kentucky and coach John Calipari on the social media platforms of ESPN’s Sportscenter.

“I’d like to thank all the programs and coaches for recruiting me and putting the time into me,” the Santa Ana Mater Dei High junior said. “With that being said, I’ll be taking my talents to University of Kentucky.

“I chose Kentucky because Coach Cal and all the assistant coaches have my best interests and will help me get to my goals,” he added. “Some things I’d like to accomplish at the University of Kentucky is to win a national championship, get better as a player and improve to become a pro.”

Askew is ranked the No. 10 overall player and the No. 2 combo guard in his class, per the 247 Sports Composite rankings. He is the top player from the state and the only California prospect in the top 30 of the 2021 class. He averaged 14.0 points, 6.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds last year for the Monarchs as they went 29-5 and made it to the CIF Open Division Southern California Regional championship.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Askew is the first commitment in Kentucky’s 2021 recruiting class, but someanalysts expect him to ultimately re-classify to the 2020 class, joining the No. 2-ranked class, which features Chatsworth Sierra Canyon High five-star guard BJ Boston.

Calipari has found Southern California to be fertile recruiting grounds recently. Studio City Harvard-Westlake’s Johnny Juzang chose the Wildcats this spring. The 2019 four-star forward enrolled over the summer. Kentucky also got a player from the Southland in 2017 when Jemarl Baker signed with Kentucky out of Eastvale Roosevelt.