One of the more anticipated announcements from the state for basketball was Ty Ty Washington Jr.

On Wednesday, May 12th he announced that he was going to Kentucky.

ArizonaVarsity asked Ty Ty why did he choose Kentucky?

Ty Ty Washington Jr: "I am betting on myself! That is really the answer right there. Calipari told me if you are willing to bet on yourself every night, then this is the place for you."

How did we get to this point?

His timeline:

At the end of his AIA sophomore season, where he was literally a shot at the buzzer away with Cesar Chavez HS, from knocking off #2 ranked Chaparral. Chaparral won the game 77-75 and went on to the 6A state Championship, where they lost to #1 Pinnacle.

Then in 2019 summer before his junior campaign, we had Section-7.

Section-7 had 150+ top high schools from the West Coast competing versus each other in different pools over a long weekend. After evaluating him vs some of the best guards, you knew his stock was way up. Simply put, he was one of the better rising junior guards.

Then midway through his junior season at Cesar Chavez HS, Ty Ty transferred to the current powerhouse AZ Compass Prep.

Now they were not a powerhouse yet when he transferred in.

The end of his junior year, there was a buzz around the program. Ty Ty and Sadraque Nganga were a top duo along with Michigan commit Frankie Collins.

Collins decided to not return to AZ Compass Prep this season and the program brought in a few pieces to compliment Ty Ty's skills and it became one of the toughest teams in the country to play against.

This year they won the always talented Grind Session on an assist from Ty Ty for a Joshu Uduje jumper. And beat some of the best teams in the country along the way.

Later that week on March 11th, Ty Ty decided to decommit from Creighton Univ and re-open his recruitment.

Over the April 1st weekend, AZ Compass Prep participated in the prestigious Geico Nationals. Geico only invites 8-10 teams to battle for a title of the #1 HS basketball program in the USA.

Ty Ty and co. first defeated a talented Wasatch Academy out of Utah in the Elite-8, who have other highly ranked players on their team. Ty Ty had 22 pts, 10 rebs and 5 asts.

AZ Compass then took on the #1 ranked team in the country with Montverde Academy out of Florida led by Jalen Duren in the Final-4 match-up.

Duren, like Ty Ty, is a pro prospect in the 2022 class and is ranked somewhere in the Top-5 depending on who is ranking him. He has that Dwight Howard type of frame and game.

The game was an instant classic on ESPN. Both teams slugged it out to go into overtime and Ty Ty attempted a 3 at the buzzer, down-2, and it rattled just off the rim.

Although AZ Compass Prep did not win the National Championship, as Monterde Academy ended up winning it, Ty Ty definitely put his name and the program on the map!

Then on April 17th Ty Ty Washington Jr released his final-6 schools via social media.

As the basketball world was waiting for his commitment, he was invited to another prestigious event called the Iverson Classic. An invite-only event of 24 selected players around the country.

And you guessed it, he came away looking like a future star.

Here was a clip of him winning the 3pt Shootout on May 7th:

Then in the actual game on May 8th, he continued his strong play.

Throughout all these accomplishments he is getting noticed.

He was recently projected as a 1st round draft pick, somewhere in the 14-19 range, for the 2022 NBA draft by multiple websites.

Rosenberg's take:

Ty Ty Washington Jr has been a winner wherever he has gone. Middle school, HS, Prep school, AAU, all-star games. It never mattered. He always played the way 'you are supposed to' and did it with class and style. He has that Tyrese Maxey, Sam Cassell, Nickiel Alexander-Walker type of game who has good size with a high feel for the game, a strong build with length, plays with a toughness, a way better facilitator then he gets credited with and can obviously shoot the ball with range better then most players can in the country.