Michael Avery isn’t sure where he’ll attend high school next fall, but he’s already decided that he’ll attend the University of Kentucky for college.But that will have to wait a few years.The 6-foot-4 Avery, who is finishing eighth grade in Encino, Calif., has giving UK coach Billy Gillispie a verbal commitment, his father, Howard, confirmed today.“We’re very flattered and excited that Michael will have the opportunity to one day play at Kentucky,” Howard Avery said in a phone interview with The Courier-Journal. “After going through the thought process and talking to a lot of people, when you have a program like Kentucky wanting you, there’s not any better. They have a coach that appreciates what my son can offer. What else can you look for?”The elder Avery, who has a law practice in California, said his son has always had a goal to play at one of the nation’s elite college basketball programs.
And he said the family thought about the early commitment, “absolutely we did,” but decided it was best to go ahead and make the decision.“Kentucky has always been one of those dream schools, like Duke and North Carolina,” he said. “Kentucky is crazy about basketball. Basketball is through and through there, the school, the town, the whole state.“Here we have USC and UCLA and they have great programs. But this is not a basketball town.
