Kentucky gets third top-10 recruit in one week

LEXINGTON, Ky., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- First it was No. 7, then No. 6, now the No. 5 recruit in the class of 2016 has decided to play basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats.

Bentonville, Arkansas native Malik Monk announced his decision to play in Lexington on Wednesday on his Twitter account.

"First and foremost I want to thank God for his many blessings for for all the people he has placed in my life," Monk said on Twitter. "I want to thank my Mother and Brother for being there for me throughout this entire process. I want to say thank you to my family and friends in Lepanto, and for the Bentonville coaching staff and community for accepting me as their own. I want to thank Ron Crawford and everyone in the Arkansas Wings organization for their support. I want to thank all my teammates who drive me everyday to be the best I can be on the court, I also want to thank ALL of the coaches who have reruited me over the past 4 years, its really been a great experience. Every coach and his staff treated myself and family with the utmost respect throughout the process and I'm very appreciative of this. This has been the toughest decision I have made in my life. With so many great coaches and historical programs recruiting me it has really been a tough but fun process. In saying this I will be continuing my maturation as a student athlete at The University of Kentucky. Having the opportunity to win a National Championship with my friends and the relationship I have with the coaching staff was very impactful in my decision."

"Thank you and God Bless."

The 6-foot, 3-inch shooting guard averaged 19.4 points on the Nike EYBL circuit this spring and summer and shot 36.7 percent from three-point range, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

Monk chose Kentucky over the hometown Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Wildcats also got the nod from Edrice "Bam" Adebayo and De'Aaron Fox this week. Five-star forward Wenyen Gabriel and four-star forward Sacha Killeya-Jones are also headed to Rupp Arena.

Kentucky now leads Duke as ESPN's top recruiting class in the nation for 2016.

Since John Calipari has starting coaching the Wildcats, the school hasn't had a recruiting class ranked lower than No. 2.

Former Razorbacks great Bobby Portis, who currently plays for the Chicago Bulls, didn't like the decision.

"I didn't need Kentucky to make it to the NBA but thats none of my business," Portis tweeted.

Monk broke Bentonville's single game scoring record with 47 points last year, before breaking it again with 50 points, according to NWA Online.