Jayhawks recruiting standout guard from Australia; Oubre has career night

Kansas is one of many colleges recruiting Australian sensation Josh Green, a 6-foot-5 junior shooting guard who is now attending IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

“Virginia, which just offered me, has been staying in contact with me. Arizona, UCLA, USC, Kansas, Stanford and Washington have all been staying in close contact,” Green, the No. 28-rated player in the recruiting class of 2019, told Rivals.com on Sunday.

Green told the recruiting website he has great interest in KU.

“They contact me and my family a lot. Bill Self and their assistant actually came here yesterday,” Green said. “They have a great tradition and they have done a really good job throughout their history and they have done a great job of developing their players and getting them to the next level.”

Foxsports.com reported that TCU was the first school to offer a scholarship to Green, who moved to the United States two years ago. KU, Arizona, UCLA, Oregon and Texas A&M offered shortly after the Horned Frogs, Foxsports.com indicated.

Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and others have also shown interest in Green, who last season averaged 20.1 points per game as a sophomore at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, Ariz. He was a teammate of DeAndre Ayton, a freshman center at University of Arizona who was ranked No. 3 in the recruiting class of 2017.

The reason for moving from the Arizona school to IMG?

“Their facilities are as good as most colleges. They have a great coaching staff, and they fit in academics with training and our traveling schedule, which is really good,” Green told Foxsports.com.

Of Green, Rivals.com’s Corey Evans wrote Sunday: “A high four-star prospect that is on the cusp of adding the final star next to his name, Green is everything that a high-major coach looks for in a prospect. Capable of creating for others, an elite-level athlete at the basket with a worker’s approach in attaining his maximum potential, the upside remains tremendous for the Aussie import.”

Oubre scores career high amid controversy

Former KU wing Kelly Oubre scored a career-high 21 points Friday in the Washington Wizards’ home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He hit a career-best five threes (in seven tries) and also had six rebounds. He followed that big game with 10 points and five boards in a victory Sunday over Toronto.

“He’s growing up right in front of our eyes,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said after Friday’s game against Cleveland, as quoted by bulletsforever.com. “The maturity level, being a consistent pro on and off the court is getting better night in and night out. I’m going to continue to develop and work with him to try and get him better, as the season goes on.”

Coincidentally, Oubre, 21, may be in trouble with the NBA front office for wearing a jacket with profane language to the Wizards’ arena for Friday’s game against the Cavs. According to ESPN.com, the NBA is planning to review the incident. Oubre’s jacket was stitched with a profanity scripted on it. Oubre showed it to photographers as he was arriving at the locker room for the game.

According to ESPN.com, the NBA “has a dress code for players on game nights and has the option to issue fines for violations.”

Oubre was fined $15,000 earlier this season for “aggressively entering an altercation” between the Wizards’ Bradley Beal and Golden State’s Draymond Green. He was suspended for game four of the Wizards’ playoff series against Boston last year, costing him just under $20,000.

Tyler Self enjoys working for Spurs

Self said his son Tyler is enjoying working as basketball operations quality assurance assistant for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs.

“He’s not a coach. He’s working in the front office. Obviously he tells me that is much higher than what a coach would be,” Bill Self said with a laugh at last week’s Williams Fund luncheon in Wichita.

“He’s doing great,” Self added. “He gets (basket) ball. He has a pretty good business mind. R.C. (Buford, general manager) is kind of taking him under his wing. If you work with the Spurs and you do your job there’s a chance you’ll have a chance to move on from there and have at least an opportunity to kind of make a dent in it (the world of basketball) in some capacity. That’s what we’re hoping he can do.”

Tyler Self, who played five seasons for KU and graduated last May, still plays basketball on the side.

“He played 3-on-3 the other day. (Tony) Parker is out. He’s still hurt, playing about 70 percent. They played 3-on-3 halfcourt. I said, ‘How did you do against him?’ ” Bill Self related of the conversation with his son. “He said, ‘Dad he’s pretty good.’ I said, ‘Oh really?’

“When Tyler was here he always said, ‘Dad, Wiggs (Andrew Wiggins) can’t score on me.’ I’d say, ‘Son that’s because he looks at you and says somebody else needs to probably score, too.’ He’d say, ‘Dad, Wiggs can’t score on me.’

“I said, ‘Can Parker score on you?’ He said, ‘Yeah he can score on me.’ I said, ‘So he’s better than Wiggs?’ He said, ‘Yeah he’s definitely better than Wiggs,’’’ Bill Self added with a laugh.

White has outstanding pro debut

Former KU guard Andrew White of the Maine Red Claws of the NBA G-League team exploded for 37 points in his pro debut on Friday night.

White hit 13 of 21 shots (4 of 6 threes) while playing 32 minutes in Maine’s win over Delaware. He had 23 points at halftime while coming off the bench.

He followed that with a nine-point outing Sunday against Erie. He hit 4 of 6 shots and was 1 of 1 from three in 32 minutes. White transferred from KU to Nebraska after two seasons and finished his career last year at Syracuse.

Next game Tuesday night

It promises to be a busy week for KU basketball as the regular season nears. The Jayhawks will meet Fort Hays State in the third and final exhibition of the preseason at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Allen Fieldhouse.

KU will face Tennessee State in the regular-season opener at 8 p.m. Friday at Allen. The Jayhawks will meet Kentucky in the Champions Classic at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14, at the United Center in Chicago.

Also, Wednesday is the first day of the weeklong November signing period for high school seniors. KU is expected to sign three players who have committed to KU: point guard Devon Dotson, who is ranked No. 17 nationally by Rivals.com, as well as power forwards Silvio De Sousa and David McCormack, who are ranked Nos. 25 and 33 respectively.

This story was originally published November 5, 2017 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Jayhawks recruiting standout guard from Australia; Oubre has career night."