Next Man Up: It's Devin Askew's Time

[Ed. Note: This is the third installment of KSR’s “Next Man Up” series profiling Kentucky’s 2020 signees. Previously, Jack Pilgrim wrote about Lance Ware, and Aaron Torres profiled BJ Boston]

Throughout his time as an elite high school basketball recruit, during his rise up the recruiting rankings, through multiple Team USA basketball events and straight into his commitment to Kentucky, ask anyone who knows Devin Askew to describe him and they always come back with the same word.

That word is “competitive.”

Sure, some kids might be taller. A few might be able to jump higher. But none is going to outwork Askew.

Granted, every high school basketball player – star or not – claims that they’re willing to outwork the world. And plenty claim that no one is more competitive. But in the case of Askew, he has practiced what he preached – basically since the day he was born.

And if you don’t believe me when I say that, just ask his father Brian Askew.

One of his favorite stories about Devin’s competitive drive goes back well over a decade, to a time that Devin was about three-years-old. At the time, Brian was coaching his oldest son BJ in a rec league. Devin came to the first game alongside his mother Katie, and neither parent thought much of bringing him. He was after all, three-years-old.

Quickly though, young Devin grew restless. First he got fidgety in the stands, and would only settle down when his mother let him sit by his dad on the bench. Then a game or two later he demanded a uniform – the fact that none were available in his size didn’t perturb him. He only relented when he got that uniform, one his parents had to make by hand.

Then finally, Devin made the boldest ask of all. He asked to be put into a game. The fact that most of the other players were at least a year or two older than him was irrelevant. The fact that the ball was basically bigger than him, inconsequential.

“He’d sit there with a pacifier in his mouth and just beg,” Brian Askew said laughing, in a recent interview with KSR.”  He’d be three-years-old and he’d just beg for me to put him.”

Finally, Devin got his opportunity.

“So one time we put him because we were up a lot of points,” Brian Askew said. “And that was Devin at his best… His brother and his friends were upset because we put his little brother on the court. And sure enough, he took the ball, and he would just dribble. He got the ball and he didn’t care who was in there or yelling at him. To him it was just like ‘This is my time.’ That’s how he was at three-years-old.”

Since that day, a lot has changed in Devin Askew’s life. He has grown a few feet, added some weight and turned himself into one of the best point guards in high school basketball.

But as the calendar continues to turn and as he gets set to (hopefully) leave for Lexington sometime soon, one thing has remained the same since that day, all those years ago: With the Wildcats completely overhauling their roster this off-season, it is once again Devin Askew’s time.

And just like he was on the day he took the court with a pacifier in his mouth, you better believe that he’s ready to go.

*****

The great irony about the story above, the one where Devin Askew practically went from diapers straight to the lay-up line, is that as he grew older, most around him believed that basketball wasn’t even his best sport. Playing in youth leagues across Sacramento he played both basketball and football, but most believed his future was on the gridiron.

He was a quarterback, with one thing above all others standing out about the position.

“I just like the position that is the leader of the team,” the younger Askew said. “That’s just what I like doing.”

Then came the summer after his seventh grade year when Askew shocked just about everyone close to him by electing to give up football altogether. There were some very middle school-ish reasons for the decision (“Those Sacramento summers are hot,” Askew joked) but also some much more practical ones as well. His mother is a doctor and at that point, had probably read one too many articles on concussions.

But more than anything else it was that he simply loved basketball. And wanted to completely focus on that.

Yet what makes this story so unique is that even in giving up football full-time to focus on basketball, there was no grand plan from either Devin or his family that the sport would eventually take him where it has. Yes, Devin would work, because according to his parents that’s what he always does when he puts his mind to something. And yes, he was always good for his age group, so this isn’t to say that he has “come out of no where over the past couple years.”

But in a world where too many sports families seemingly make every decision to fast-track their son or daughter to the pro ranks (be it in basketball or another sport) that was never the plan for the Askew’s. Devin threw himself two feet into basketball because that’s what Devin decided to do.

“He should never feel the burden of doing what will make us as parents happy,” Brian Askew said.

That also gives further context to how the next few years of Askew’s basketball journey played out. While many of the decisions that came next appeared to be basketball-related, that really wasn’t the case at all.

Yes, the Askew’s eventually moved from Sacramento to Southern California – but that was simply to get closer to Devin’s maternal grandmother who lives in the area. When he enrolled at prep powerhouse Mater Dei it was only after his brother had attended a different high school first. And even when he got to Mater Dei, it wasn’t because it was the clearest path to playing time or because the family wanted to use the school to elevate their son’s profile. Askew actually served as a back-up as a freshman, playing behind two-time All-State point guard Spencer Freedman, who now plays at Harvard.

Therefore, it shouldn’t come as any big surprise that when Askew hit the AAU circuit following his freshman year he didn’t do it with any intent of racking up scholarship offers, but instead, to simply get better against the best competition he could. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t until Askew got his first scholarship offer that summer that the lightbulb went off above his head. For the first time he realized that he might have a future in college basketball.

“I got my first offer and it was to St. John’s,” Askew said. “I was just thinking ‘Now I can go to college and play basketball.’ I was just playing basketball for fun. I just loved being out there and competing, but once I got the first offer I was like ‘Man, I can really do something with this. This is cool. People are interested in me playing for them at my school.’”

Yet if the summer after his freshman year was when Askew first realized that he could play college basketball, it was the summer after his sophomore year that he realized he could play it at an insanely high level.

That’s because last summer, while playing for a star-studded Team WhyNot squad on the Nike EYBL circuit Askew’s recruitment blew up to a whole different level. Askew had already picked up some pretty impressive offers during his sophomore year at Mater Dei (most notably Louisville) and by the end of his summer playing on WhyNot (a loaded roster which featured future McDonald’s All-Americans Jalen Green and Nimari Burnett, as well as future Oregon signee Addison Patterson) Askew heard from just about everyone else. Villanova came in with an offer. So too did Kansas. Louisville was on him more than ever. Texas, Oregon, virtually every other school in the Pac-12, you name it, they wanted Askew.

But of course there was one other offer, and one text specifically that stuck out above everyone else’s. It was Kentucky’s.

Askew first began building a relationship with Joel Justus the Kentucky assistant first reached out in June. But then, after an especially strong game at Peach Jam (the summer’s premiere high school hoops event), he received a text from a number that he didn’t recognize.

It was John Calipari.

“When he texted me at first,” Askew remembered, “I was like ‘What? This is UK. This is crazy.’”

Askew continued.

“I knew Kentucky was interested in me when Joel was talking to me,” Askew said. “But when Cal reached out to me it was verified. ‘They want me.’”

It was confirmed. Kentucky, like a lot of schools did in fact want Devin Askew.

But before he could decide where he would play college basketball, he first had to decide when.

*****

On November 15th, 2019, Devin Askew announced that he would reclassify from the class of 2021, finish up high school in the spring of 2020 and enroll in college early. The move allowed him a chance to get to college a year ahead of schedule. It also gave Kentucky its point guard of the future.

And in yet another ironic twist, Kentucky fans owe a debt of gratitude to the most unlikely person. A player that are accusing of trying to “ruin” high school basketball.

That person is Jalen Green. Green has become noteworthy in recent weeks with his decision to bypass college basketball for the G-League’s new “Select Team” program, a decision which has ruffled the feathers of some college hoops purists. Yet long before Green was the face of the G-League, he was simply an AAU teammate of Askew’s on Team WhyNot.

And it was after Peach Jam, the event where John Calipari first reached out to Askew, that Green asked Askew a question that would alter the trajectory of his career. After watching Askew compete with – and in many cases “dominate” – guys who were considered to be the elite guards in the class of 2020, Green wondered: Did Askew really need two more years of high school basketball? Or had he proved everything he needed to at that level, and was it time to consider moving up a year?

“Jalen [Green] was really the one to mention it to me,” Askew said. “He was like ‘Bro, why not just go early. What are you doing?’ And I started looking into it. Well my whole family and I looked into it to see if it was what’s best for me.’”

While the decision didn’t officially trickle out for a few more months, the seeds were planted that day. The Askew’s as a family weighed all the pros and cons of such a decision, and to the credit of all the schools recruiting him, all the contenders extended his scholarship offer for both the 2020 or 2021 recruiting class.

But in the end, Askew did what he always does: He thought things through, weighed every possible plus and minus, and made the decision that he believed was best for him. With his parents support, he elected to make the move up to 2020. And in the end it came down to the word it always does with Askew: Competition. And the desire to compete against the best players when the opportunity presents itself.

“What is the quickest way to get to my goal?” Askew asked rhetorically when discussing what went into the decision. “I want to play at the highest level and have fun with it. And whether the highest level for me is college or the NBA, wherever basketball takes me, that’s where I want to go.”

From there, the visitation process began. Askew spent the early part of the fall of 2019 traveling the country, making stoops at Louisville and Arizona in September, and at Memphis on October 3rd. A day later he went to Lexington, and as they say, “The rest is history.” Askew was quick to say how much he enjoyed building relationships with all four coaching staffs, but as he explains, there was just something different about Kentucky.

“When I took the Kentucky official, it just felt like every puzzle piece fit,” Askew said. “Their facilities, their practices, the way they’re just focused. The dorms are literally two steps away from the practice gym. So you’re in the gym working, and I love to work. And that’s going to be my home.”

Welcome to the family, @babydev5#LaFamilia pic.twitter.com/p8gdIIDTU5

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 15, 2019

Beyond all the obvious bells and whistles though, there were two other things that stood out to both Devin and Brian Askew about the recruiting process.

One, is John Calipari. For whatever flack he may get nationally for some of his overused sayings (“Kentucky isn’t for everyone!”) or locally because of the program’s constant roster turnover (“Kentucky needs to recruit more four-year players!”) the reason Calipari has had sustained ridiculous high-level success for a decade plus now is because of who he is. Because despite what rival schools say, he really does put the kids before the program, and because he really does care about each individual kid more than any one win or loss.

“During the whole recruiting process, him and everyone on the whole coaching staff were unbelievable,” Brian Askew said. “If anyone has anything bad to say about Coach Cal throughout this, I don’t think they’ve ever sat across a table from him and talked. They’re awesome.”

Devin shared the same sentiment, explaining how one question – and one moment – swung his whole recruitment.

“Coach Cal is one of the realest coaches,” Askew said. “He’s going to be honest with you. And I asked him, ‘If I don’t get out in one year, what are your expectations for me?’ And he said ‘You come back for your second year! What are you talking about? You come back for the second year and be the point guard again.'”

That one single answer was all Askew needed to hear.

As did one moment that came later on his trip.

“The time I went on the official visit, the following day was Pro Day,” Askew said. “I wasn’t allowed to be in there during Pro Day because that’s a violation. But the day before, just seeing who was going to be coming in, I knew that’s where I wanted to go.”

He continued.

“I wanted to be in front of that [type setting]. It was make or break, and I love that.”

*****

With his commitment in the rear-view mirror, it allowed Askew to focus on his senior season. Unfortunately, like everything else in life it was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Mater Dei played a state playoff game on March 7th against Etiwanda – and then poof, just like that, it was over. He finished the year averaging 17 points, six assists and five rebounds per game and was named Orange County Player of the Year.

Since then Askew has become like a lot of us, waiting to see what’s next. He is finishing up school at home, working out when and where he is legally allowed to, and waiting for the call that it’s safe to travel to Kentucky. The team was expected to report to campus the first week of June, but now, even John Calipari doesn’t know. That decision will be made far above the head of a college basketball coach, by mayors, governors and potentially the President of the United States.

In the meantime, Askew is following everything from a far. The family was both impressed by the development of the team throughout the season, as well as what John Calipari has done to re-load since things ended a month ago with the additions of Davion Mintz and Jacob Toppin. While some fans have become nervous about how inexperienced the team will be with just one returning player, six freshmen and some transfers, the Askews see things the exact opposite way.

“Honestly, I think it’s times like this that motivate the coaching staff,” Brian Askew says. “People wondering if they’re too young or too inexperienced. They’ve done this before Coach Cal always figures it out.”

And expect Devin Askew to figure it out as well. Sure, there are plenty of people who helped make Askew the player he is today, ranging from personal trainer Shea Frazee, to the coaching staff at Mater Dei, and Team USA Basketball, where Askew has played in multiple mini-camps through the years as well as on an international 3×3 last summer.

Still, at the end of the day, Askew wouldn’t have gotten to where he is now without plenty of good, old-fashioned hard work.

“I’m just a player who is going to go out and fight every game,” he said. “I’m a guy who is going to go out there and be scrappy, aggressive, talk a lot of trash, like ‘Let’s go!’ There’s going to be a lot of energy coming from me.”

It’s Devin Askew’s time. And he’s ready.