Future KU guard Marcus Garrett’s first trip to campus is a memorable one

Sound asleep at 7:02 a.m., Saturday in the Oread Hotel a block from the University of Kansas’ campus, Marcus Garrett and his uncle, Matthew Watts, were not rattled by the Oklahoma earthquake that swayed parts of Lawrence.

“I was on the third floor. I didn’t feel it shake or anything. Marcus too. He didn’t feel anything,” Watts said Sunday upon the conclusion of his nephew’s official three-day campus visit to KU.

Garrett, a 6-foot-5 senior combo guard from Dallas Skyline High who orally committed to KU over Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma State, UConn and others on Aug. 1 despite having never visited Lawrence, returned home with only positive memories of his trip — no nightmares about tremors.

“He is very excited. I’ve not seen him smile this much in a long time. The pictures he took this weekend … every time he took a picture he was smiling,” Watts said.

Garrett was never worried that he actually might not like Lawrence upon pulling into town for the first time.

“I played juco ball in Kansas. I played at Butler County and have been to Lawrence a couple times. I told him it was beautiful and told him about the people at Kansas. He was knowing it would be a good situation for him,” said Watts, who is coach of his nephew’s Dallas Swag House AAU team.

“Marcus said he’d heard about how cold it can get in Kansas. I was saying (on the trip), ‘It’s hot now. It’s nice,’’’ Watts added following a gorgeous weekend, weather-wise.

Watts said his nephew, who averaged 17.7 points and 10.1 assists per game last season for (32-3) Skyline, loved KU’s facilities and the people he met.

“He really enjoyed spending time with the players, his new family,” Watts said.

Garrett, ranked No. 44 in the Class of 2017 by Rivals.com, also spent time with another player on an official visit — Chaundee Brown, a 6-5 senior shooting guard from First Academy in Orlando, Fla., who is ranked No. 64 in the Class of ’17.

Brown, whose campus visit concludes today, has a final list of KU, Wake Forest, Maryland and Florida.

“He was out with Chaundee (at Saturday’s KU-Rhode Island football game). They talked a lot. He (Garrett) was telling him he should basically come here, trying to get him to come,” Watts said.

Firmly committed to KU, Garrett, will return for the Oct. 1 Late Night in the Phog.

“That was the main thing I wanted for him, to get everything rolling and get it (decision) out of the way so he wouldn’t be worried playing basketball and deciding what school he wanted to go to,” Watts said of his nephew making his decision before the start of the school year. “He’s very happy. When a school like Kansas calls, you stop what you are doing and listen.”

Duval slices UCLA from long list of schools

Trevon Duval, a 6-2 senior guard formerly of Dallas Advanced Prep , who is ranked No. 5 nationally by Rivals.com, on Sunday reported on Twitter he’d cut his list of 10 schools to nine.

UCLA was the program that was eliminated, leaving KU, California, Oregon, USC, Villanova, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Arizona and Maryland.

Duval, who is originally from New Castle, Delaware, has not yet announced where he will attend high school this year.

This story was originally published September 4, 2016 at 9:31 PM with the headline "Future KU guard Marcus Garrett’s first trip to campus is a memorable one."