Karl-Anthony Towns

Karl-Anthony Towns (born November 15, 1995) is a Dominican-American basketball player who played his senior season for St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey during the 2013–14 season and college basketball the University of Kentucky. He was named to the Dominican Republic national basketball team Olympic squad as a 16-year-old.

- Early years

Towns was born in Piscataway, New Jersey to an African American father Karl-Anthony Towns, Sr. and a Dominican mother Jacqueline Cruz. 

He attended Lake Nelson Seventh-Day Adventist School, he then went to Theodore Schor Middle School after transferring in from Our Lady of Fatima School in 2009.

Towns’s father played basketball for Monmouth University and coached basketball at Piscataway Technical High School, where the precocious Towns practiced with the junior varsity team as a fifth grader.

- High school career

As a freshman at St. Joseph High School, Towns led the basketball team to a state championship in 2012, earning himself the top position in the ESPN 25 national ranking of high school players. 

Towns also led his team to state titles in 2013 and 2014. Towns was selected at the age of 16 to play on the Dominican Republic national basketball team, which represents that nation in international competition. Towns was eligible based on the fact that his mother is from the Dominican Republic. During 2011 and 2012 competitions, John Calipari, head coach at the University of Kentucky and a former NBA head coach, coached the team, which finished third in the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship and fourth place at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men, falling one position short of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Basketball Tournament.

In December 2012, Towns announced that he was going to reclassify as a senior and commit to play on the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team under Coach Calipari, who had coached him as part of the national team of the Dominican Republic. ESPN, which had ranked him as the top prospect in the 2015 recruiting class listed him as third-ranked in its 2014 class.

Towns graduated from high school with a 3.96 GPA out of a possible 4.718. 

He was named the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year.

On January 6, 2013 Towns recorded a quadruple double with 16 points, 17 rebounds, 11 blocks and 11 assists, then on January 5, 2014 he recorded another with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 12 blocks and 10 assists.

- College career

In his freshman year, Kentucky used a unique “platoon system” that limited the minutes of each player. Regardless, Towns is widely projected to be picked as a top selection of the lottery of the 2015 NBA draft.

Towns is studying kinesiology, and hopes to become a doctor after his basketball career.

On April 9, 2015 Towns along with Kentucky teammates Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles, and Willie Cauley-Stein declared to enter their names into the 2015 NBA Draft. Towns is the projected No. 1 overall pick.