Brother of KU’s Dedric and K.J. Lawson headed to Oak Hill Academy this season
Chandler Lawson, the brother of current Kansas basketball players Dedric and K.J. Lawson, announced Saturday on Twitter he will play his final season of high school basketball at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.
Chandler, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound senior forward, won his third Tennessee state title at Memphis East High School this past season. After the 2017-18 campaign, his coach, Penny Hardaway, accepted the head coaching position at the University of Memphis.
“The coaching environment, I think I want to be able to learn the things to be able to play at the next level,” Chandler Lawson told the Memphis Commercial Appeal in an interview at the Peach Jam tournament in Georgia. “It’s basically you’ve just got to be your own man and learn from what you do, and just do your own thing.”
The KU recruiting target averaged 11.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2 steals in Bluff City Legends AAU’s five games at the Peach Jam.
Chandler Lawson, who is ranked No. 86 in the Class of 2019 by Rivals.com, told The Star at Peach Jam that he’s considering KU, Memphis, Georgia Tech, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi and others.
“I’m very interested in KU,” Chandler Lawson told The Star. “They’ve been talking to my dad (Keelon) a lot. I really don’t talk to the colleges. Everything just goes through my dad, my parents. But I’ve been getting a lot of love from KU.”
He said Dedric and K.J. tell him “everything” about Kansas, including how coach Bill Self is “hard on you like every other coach, but he expects nothing but the best from you.”
Another Lawson brother, Johnathan, will play for his dad, Keelon, at Wooddale High in Memphis this season, Chandler Lawson revealed on Facebook on Saturday as reported by the Commercial Appeal. Johnathan is a 6-foot-6 sophomore small forward. Analysts have said he could be a top five player in the Class of 2021.
Self watches Hurt in New York
KU’s Self was at the Adidas Gauntlet on Saturday in New York watching Matthew Hurt, a 6-9 senior forward from John Marshall High in Rochester, Minn., various recruiting analysts reported. Hurt, who is ranked No. 5 in the Class of 2019 by Rivals.com, scored 29 points with six rebounds and six assists for D1 Minnesota in a victory over Team Loaded of North Carolina, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. On Friday, Hurt scored 19 points and grabbed 10 boards in a victory over EBO.
Hurt recently played for USA Basketball’s Under-18 national team that won the FIBA Americas U18 title in Canada. KU’s Self coached that team. Hurt is considering KU, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis, Minnesota, North Carolina, UCLA and perhaps others.
“I haven’t really thought about (recruiting),” Hurt told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “I’m trying to focus on AAU. End of July, I’m going to start wrapping it up and get some visits scheduled.”
Hurt told the Rochester (Minn.) Post-Bulletin that he enjoyed playing for Self in the FIBA tourney.
“I think that helps because learning from him, knowing what he likes, knowing what he doesn’t like, what he runs, what kind of defense he runs, if I do commit to him, I’ll be more comfortable right when I come in,” Hurt said.
“No, that’s not true,” he said, asked by the Post-Bulletin if KU is the recruiting leader. “I think every coach has the same chance right now because I’m just trying to fit my playing style in that system. And it could be any system. I’m just going to try and make that right decision for myself.”
More summer league action
Former KU forward Billy Preston scored 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 92-87 victory over Houston on Saturday in the Las Vegas Summer League. The 6-foot-10, 20-year-old Preston played 21 minutes.
This story was originally published July 14, 2018 at 8:16 PM.