Dunbar’s very own EJ Floreal is now playing basketball for the University of Kentucky Wildcats. He went from high school athlete to being a part of the number 1 team in college basketball. He is currently practicing under the legendary coach Callipari.

Floreal came to Lexington from California for his senior year of high school. He moved to Lexington when his father received the position of head coach of track and field at the University of Kentucky. In California he was an exceptional track and basketball athlete. At Paul Laurence Dunbar high school he continued to excel in these two sports. He was the starting power forward for the basketball team, and Dunbar’s best runner in track–he broke several school records.

The transition from high school to college in general is difficult, but imagine going from an average high school team to the greatest collegiate basketball program of all time. It was a major jump for Floreal and it will definitely get some getting used to.

“The biggest transition is obviously the caliber of players and the amount of work and preparation we put into games,” said Floreal. “Also the amount of work put in off the court is intensified to maintain this level of play.”

This is a great accomplishment for not only Floreal, but for Dunbar because he is one of their own. Dunbar has one of its own former students playing with some the best college basketball players in the country. UK has four top 10 recruits, and the rest are at least in the top 100. EJ Floreal is going to be playing with the best of the best. He was even shown on TV at Big Blue Madness, dunking over Julius Randall, arguably the supposed number two pick in the NBA draft following his freshman year at UK. He is definitely doing well, and hopefully Dunbar will hear and see more of him with the season to come.