Kansas notes: Jayhawks appear favored to land top recruit Carlton Bragg

By Thursday afternoon, Kansas could have its first commitment in its 2015 recruiting class. Carlton Bragg, a five-star big man from Cleveland, will make his official announcement in a ceremony at his high school at 1:45 p.m. Thursday.

Bragg, a 6-foot-9 forward, is choosing among Kansas, Kentucky and Illinois. A senior at Villa Angela St. Joseph High School, Bragg is rated as the nation’s No. 14 overall recruit by Rivals.com.

In recent days, Kansas has appeared to emerge as the favorite to land Bragg. National recruiting analysts from multiple recruiting services are picking Kansas as the likely destination for Bragg.

Bragg has been one of Kansas’ prime recruiting targets in the 2015 class. He visited Kansas in October during the Jayhawks’ Late Night in the Phog festivities, and the Jayhawks have remained a likely destination.

Kansas coach Bill Self said last summer that he wanted to focus on big men in his 2015 recruiting class. The Jayhawks, who have zero scholarship seniors on the roster, currently have two open scholarships for next season. They could also have more, should any players opt to leave early for the NBA. To this point, KU has no oral commitments in its 2015 class.

First half

Key play: Trailing 20-14 with under 6 minutes left in the half, Wayne Selden cut Baylor’s lead to four on a driving layup by Wayne Selden.

Key stat: KU shot 27.6 percent.

Second half

Key play: Holding on to a one-point lead with under 15 seconds left, Kansas freshman Kelly Oubre forced a turnover on an in-bounds play that helped KU take a 56-53 lead.

Key stat: KU shot 73 percent in the second half.

This story was originally published January 7, 2015 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Kansas notes: Jayhawks appear favored to land top recruit Carlton Bragg."