Prep power forward Jarred Vanderbilt schedules in-home with KU’s Bill Self

The Kansas basketball team, which lost top big-man prospect DeAndre Ayton to Arizona earlier this week, received some good news Friday when five-star Houston Victory Prep power forward Jarred Vanderbilt scheduled an in-home recruiting visit with coach Bill Self.

Vanderbilt, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound senior who is ranked No. 21 nationally by Rivals.com, told ESPN.com he would meet with Self on Sept. 21. Vanderbilt — he had an in-home with TCU’s coaches on Friday — meets with coaches from North Carolina on Saturday and Texas on Sunday.

He’ll also have in-homes with Kentucky on Tuesday, Arizona on Wednesday and Oregon on Thursday.

“Kansas doesn’t have an in with any bigs at the moment, but Bill Self is trying to nab the likes of Troy Brown, Cody Riley and Jarred Vanderbilt. All are Kansas-level athletes. I would think he’s going to get at least one of them,” CBSsports.com’s Matt Norlander wrote this week.

Actually only Vanderbilt and Riley (6-7, 225 from Sierra Canyon High, Chatsworth, Calif. ranked No. 34 by Rivals.com) are true power forwards. Brown is a 6-6 senior shooting guard from Las Vegas Centennial who is ranked No. 12 nationally.

Other bigs on KU’s list: No. 8-ranked Billy Preston, 6-9, from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.; No. 11 Brandon McCoy, 6-11, from San Diego Cathedral Catholic; No. 17 P.J. Washington, 6-7, from Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nev.; No. 19 Nick Richards, 6-11, from The Patrick School in Elizabeth, N.J. and No. 91 Deng Gak, 6-9 from Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J.

Sexton meets with KU coaches

Collin Sexton, a 6-1 senior point guard from Pebblebrook High in Mableton, Ga., who is ranked No. 7 in the Class of 2017 by Rivals.com, had an in-home visit with KU coaches Self and Norm Roberts on Friday. Sexton and Brown are both visiting Alabama this weekend. The two also are scheduled to attend the Oct. 1 Late Night in the Phog in Allen Fieldhouse.

Young hosts KU coaches, too

KU’s coaches also had an in-home Friday with Trae Young, a 6-1 senior combo guard from Norman (Okla.) North High, who is ranked No. 14 nationally. Young also met with coaches from Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on Friday. He’ll visit KU on Oct. 21-23. Other trips scheduled: Oklahoma (Sept. 16-18), Texas Tech (Sept. 29-Oct. 1) and Kentucky (Oct. 14-16). Washington is also on his list.

Randolph on Syracuse campus this weekend

KU target Brandon Randolph, a 6-6 senior shooting guard from Westtown (Pa.) School, who is ranked No. 52, will visit Syracuse this weekend. He told Zagsblog.com he plans to cut his list of schools to five soon.

Waters visiting Georgetown

Tremont Waters, a 5-11 senior from Notre Dame High in West Haven, Conn., who is ranked No. 36, will visit Georgetown this weekend, according to Roundball Rundown Report and Zagsblog.com. He is scheduled to attend KU’s Late Night in the Phog and also is considering Yale, Indiana and others.

Weatherspoon travels to Mississippi State

Nick Weatherspoon, a 6-1 senior point guard from Velma Jackson High in Camdon, Miss., who is ranked No. 28 nationally, visits Mississippi State this weekend and N.C. State on Sept. 30-Oct. 2, according to Zagsblog.com. He has KU on his list.

Knox, Coleman like Kansas

KU has made the final five of Kevin Knox, a 6-8 senior forward from Tampa (Fla.) Catholic, who is ranked No. 9 nationally. Others on his list: North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky and Florida State. KU also has made the final five for Matt Coleman, a 6-2 senior from Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., ranked No. 32 by Rivals.com. Others on his list: Stanford, Duke, Texas and Syracuse.

Will Ayton be eligible?

DeAndre Ayton’s commitment to Arizona has had some folks wondering whether the 7-footer from the Bahamas will actually play college basketball. It is possible he will not qualify academically for a scholarship.

Matt Allen, director of Ayton’s Phoenix Hillcrest Prep team, told the Arizona Daily Star that Ayton “is on track to become eligible and just has to take his SAT. He’s a good student. He still has work to do this year, but his parents want him to go to college, and he would like to go. Arizona is the place he wants to go.”

Ayton, who played for the Hillcrest Prep program, actually attended Phoenix’s StarShine Academy at the start of last season. StarShine did not offer NCAA-certified core courses, the Daily Star reported. So he enrolled in the online Arizona Connections Academy, which has NCAA-certified courses. Also, the Sporting News reported that Ayton took pre-calculus and English courses over the summer.

Ayton remains in the online program for his senior year. His high school teammates, however, now attend Sequoia Choice Precision High School.

To potentially make matters more complicated for the NCAA Clearinghouse, Ayton has also attended San Diego’s Balboa City School. So this case, ala the highly-publicized Cheick Diallo saga at KU, could conceivably be unsettled for a while.

Traylor playing in Austria

The Redwell Gunners of Oberwart, Austria this week announced the signing of former KU forward Jamari Traylor to a contract. Terms were not disclosed.

Here are a pair of comments from team officials translated into English on the team’s website.

“Jamari is a very athletic player who defended very well and rebounded (at KU). He played constantly with and against future NBA players in college, this experience will help us,” coach Chris Chougaz said. “Traylor can play both inside positions, which we can act very varied as last year.”

Team manager Andreas Leitner said: “Jamari comes from a Super-Uni(versity). He definitely has the makings of a crowd. But we are still with him — as well as with all the new items need a lot of patience. The conversion to the life and the game of basketball in Europe needs time.”

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 8:41 PM with the headline "Prep power forward Jarred Vanderbilt schedules in-home with KU’s Bill Self."