Kansas hoops lands commitment from power forward Mitch Lightfoot

About a year ago, as her family prepared for a move, Rhonda Lightfoot dug through a box of keepsakes and found a stack of old recruiting letters. Two in particular stuck out.

Nearly 30 years ago, Lightfoot had been a standout basketball and volleyball player at Oak Park High School in the Northland, garnering scholarship offers from the University of Kansas in both sports. Lightfoot, who was Rhonda Wibright back then, thought long and hard about KU, her family’s favorite school. But in the end, she opted for Rockhurst University, where she could play both sports at the collegiate level.

When Rhonda Lightfoot found the recruiting letters, she wanted her oldest son, Mitch, to see them. Mitch, a standout high school basketball player in Tucson, Ariz., had also dreamed about playing at Kansas, the school he had grown up rooting for. But by late last year, as the family went through with the move, it looked as if that dream wouldn’t come to fruition, either. Mitch Lightfoot, a 6-foot-8 power forward, was committed to New Mexico and it didn’t appear that Kansas or head coach Bill Self were all that interested.

Rhonda Lightfoot recalled this story on Saturday afternoon, on what may have been the happiest day of her oldest son’s life.. Two hours earlier, Mitch Lightfoot had officially announced his decision to play basketball at Kansas during a preps showcase event in Glendale, Ariz. For Kansas, the decision offered a bit of positive recruiting news during a slow fall. For Lightfoot, the decision fulfilled a life-long dream and sent his family into a state of surreal joy.

“I’ve always been that kid that was sitting in the stands in Phog Allen (Fieldhouse), dreaming about being a Jayhawk, watching all the teams,” Lightfoot told The Star on Saturday. “And it’s kind of cool that I get to live that dream now.”

Lightfoot, who is ranked as Rivals’ 118th best player in the Class of 2016, becomes the first member of the Jayhawks’ 2016 recruiting class, opting for KU over a final list of schools that included home-state school Arizona, Utah, St. John’s and Stanford. In what will likely be a large recruiting class, Lightfoot gives Kansas a solid foundational piece, a kid with local ties who could grow into four-year program player at KU.

Indeed, Lightfoot and his family have strong ties to the area. Born in Kansas City, Lightfoot spent his early childhood years in the area before the family relocated to Tucson, Ariz., when he was 6. As a kid, he said, he would return to Kansas City every summer, visiting family and enjoying the area. His father, Matt, had run track at Baker, and his mother had worked KU basketball camps during her years at Rockhurst. A second cousin, Jeff Snyder, played football for KU in the early 2000s. As a result, Lightfoot never lost his love for KU. Each year, he would follow Kansas basketball, developing an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the teams and players.

“You can take the boy out of Kansas,” he said Saturday, “But you can’t take Kansas out of the boy.”

Still, it didn’t appear that Kansas would be interested in a three-star prospect with limited offers from big-time schools. That changed last spring. After a standout junior season at Gilbert Christian in Gilbert, Ariz., Lightfoot had a breakout spring on the AAU circuits. A short while after decommitting from New Mexico in April, Lightfoot fielded a call from Self.

“When that phone call came in,” Rhonda Lightfoot said, “and my son said, ‘It’s Bill Self,’ it was like: ‘Oh, my gosh.’

“Everyone just lost their minds.”

The Jayhawks are set to lose senior forwards Perry Ellis, Jamari Traylor and Hunter Mickelson following the 2015-16 season. And freshman big man Cheick Diallo projects as a possible one-and-done prospect. For Self and his staff, that made the frontcourt an early priority in the 2016 class.

It also cast Lightfoot — with his Kansas ties — as a natural to slip into a role as a program player, a forward likely to stay in Lawrence for four years. On Saturday, Lightfoot described himself as a “stretch four”, a power forward with the ability to stretch the floor with a solid shooting ability. As a junior, Lightfoot averaged 17.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game as his team claimed the Division II Arizona state title. He described his playing style as similar to former KU forward Kevin Young — with perhaps a slightly better outside game.

“I loved how he played,” Lightfoot said. ”Players like that."

Kansas’ staff paid an in-home visit to Lightfoot in early September, and Lightfoot visited campus a week later. Lightfoot is not a five-star recruit and he likely won't be a McDonald’s All-American, but he did hold offers from Arizona and Utah, among other top basketball schools. In the end, he just couldn’t say no to Kansas.

“I felt the most comfortable at Kansas,” Lightfood said. “I fit in really well with their players. Also, I love the area. I love to hunt and fish and that area is the best for it. And then also, Coach Self — I really got along with him. He likes what I bring to the table, and I love his style of coaching. He gets after it, and that’s what I like to do. I like to get after it.” .

This story was originally published October 24, 2015 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Kansas hoops lands commitment from power forward Mitch Lightfoot."