SerpApi.Org
You know the name and legacy, but do you know the player? Maybe not yet, considering Chris Paul II — yes, the son of one of the greatest point guards to ever touch a basketball — is unranked and barely has a recruiting profile out of the ’28 high school class. Squint and you’ll see a near-replica of his old man at 6-0 with the same look and demeanor, just early with some filling out to do at 160 pounds.
The rising junior produces, too, bumping up his scoring average from 6.3 PPG on 48/42/71 shooting splits during the Nike EYBL regular season to 8.4 PPG on 50/46/88 splits at Peach Jam, helping lead CP3 16U to a championship appearance. On a loaded team playing alongside future pros, he more than carried his weight.
That’s exactly what he hoped to show in North Augusta, making a name for himself — his own name, not his dad’s — playing in front of college coaches.
“I think me, personally, I’ve shown that I can fit in a system,” he told KSR at Peach Jam. “High school ball is different because everybody on our team is a four- or five-star, so we all got our own different roles on our own teams. But here, we all gotta be comfortable with knowing our roles. So I think just showing my shooting capabilities, my defense, and how I can finish around the rim.”
The dad angle is a tough one, wanting to soak up all of Chris Paul’s knowledge and experience as a future Hall of Famer with 12 NBA All-Star appearances and 11 All-NBA nods to his name, but also be his own person. Paul II wants to follow in the 20-year pro’s footsteps, but down a path of his own, if that makes sense.
“My dad is telling me to keep my head down and just carve my own path, and it’s all gonna work out. I’m going to just keep doing my thing and it’s all gonna work out. If I keep working hard at this, I’ll figure something out,” he continued. “… My dad, he’s got so much knowledge that everyone knows. Y’all think he got knowledge, but the things he be telling me, my teammates, we just soak it all in.”
Doing things his way has led to two early offers, one from his dad’s alma mater, Wake Forest, and another from Coastal Carolina. Other high-majors, however, are taking a closer look to see just how far the apple fell from the tree.
Among them? You guessed it: the Kentucky Wildcats, with those conversations starting during the direct contact period for ’28 players, which opened back on June 15.
Mo Williams sat courtside for his games at Peach Jam, including the 16U title game, where he went for 14 points on 4-6 from three to go with two rebounds, one steal and zero turnovers.
“They were just saying that they love how I’m being my own person and being my own player and they can see how much better I’ve gotten and how fast I’m getting better,” Paul II told KSR. “So just keeping my head down and just keep getting better. All of the things they tell me, all the feedback has really helped, because it makes me a better player. The more I do better, more good things will come.”
The Williams connection is real, thanks to his time playing in the league with CP3. Their paths crossed from 2005-17, even hooping together with the “Lob City” Los Angeles Clippers in 2011-12, so there is an in for Kentucky if the Cats truly want to make a move.
Not that he needs too much more of it with his dad always a phone call away — if they’re not at the dinner table together under the same roof — but the Kentucky assistant is there to offer an alternative pro angle with comparable knowledge as a former PG1.
This one doesn’t make him take out the trash or tell him to stop picking on his little sister.
“It’s definitely a blessing to be recognized for hard work and everything, but just hearing the feedback from him that he gave me, just knowing how I can apply it to everything I do, it’s huge,” Paul II said of Williams. “Seeing him at my games is just very humbling, just to know that you’re doing something the right way, you’re going in the right path, right? It’s very humbling.”
What does he know about the Kentucky program outside of Mo Williams? It’s not just the Coach Cal show — he respects how Mark Pope is running things in Lexington and how players continue to get better as they push toward their dreams as pros.
Every kid in basketball grows up wanting to make it to the NBA. That dream can become a reality in Lexington, he confidently believes.
“Guard U,” he told KSR. “(John) Calipari, but even with (Mark) Pope, they produce great players, and after that, they’re very developed. It’s a developmental factory. People go there and get better. It’s a winning culture, a blue blood, all that. They know they expect to win at all times, and that’s what I love. That’s what I live for.”
Things are just getting started with Paul II when it comes to his recruitment, especially with blue blood interest now ramping up, so don’t expect any major developments anytime soon — and certainly no commitments.
The 6-0 point guard knows exactly what he’ll be looking for when the time comes to make a decision, however far away that ends up being.
“I think for me, it’s a family,” he said. “I want to go somewhere where I feel comfortable, and I know I can make an impact earlier. Definitely just getting better, I think it’s steadily getting better, no matter how long I’m in college or whatever happens. I want to keep getting better and keep getting more done.”
Now, the real question: Will he go by CPII or CP4 at the next level? We’ll need to know in case his name ends up on the back of a Kentucky uniform someday.
