Jalen Wilson calls Kansas visit ‘great,’ heads to UNC for second recruiting trip
After visiting Kansas on Thursday night through Saturday, prize small forward Jalen Wilson is scheduled to begin an official campus recruiting visit to North Carolina on Monday night.
“KU was great,” Wilson, 6-foot-8, 210 pounds out of Guyer High in Denton, Texas, said Sunday night in a text message to The Star.
Wilson, the No. 47-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2019 by Rivals.com, recently asked out of his letter-of-intent with Michigan following John Beilein’s decision to take the Cleveland Cavaliers’ head coaching job. Michigan remains a possibility for Wilson along with KU, UNC, Oklahoma State and Florida.
Inside Carolina reports that Wilson is expected to begin his UNC visit on Monday night. The visit will conclude Wednesday. At some point this week, he is expected to meet with new Michigan coach Juwan Howard.
“(I want to see) the role they have for me,” Wilson said of the Tar Heels coaches in his interview with Inside Carolina, “and how I can impact the program.
“I know North Carolina has the best basketball player of all time in Michael Jordan. They’re a winning team. I know Justin Jackson and lot of good players came out of there. It’s a program where they know how to win and that’s important to me. They work on producing good players, working on them with skills and strength work, and preparing them for the next level and the NBA.”
Wilson averaged 18.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists a game his senior season at Guyer High.
“My game going to college is, if you look at the NBA it’s so spread out now, there aren’t any true, big-man centers any more. There are guys at the 2 and 3 all over the floor and playing together. I think I can bring everything to the court, because I’m 6-8, and hopefully in college I’ll grow to about 6-9,” Wilson told Inside Carolina. “I can rebound with the other big men, and push down the offense like a guard, such as (Philadelphia 76ers guard) Ben Simmons does. He (Simmons) makes everything smooth, and when you have someone at my size who can do everything the guards can do and the centers can do, I think that’s a good place to be. I think I can guard positions 1 through 5 right now, but I know I have to get stronger in college. I just want to play hard. I don’t want to listen to somebody say that they play harder than me, that’s just one thing that I want to make sure that I’m always doing.”
Todd plans on visiting KU
Isaiah Todd, a 6-10, 210-pound senior-to-be power forward from Trinity High in Raleigh, North Carolina, tells Rivals.com he will visit Kansas “in the fall.”
Todd, the No. 13-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2020 by Rivals.com, has a lengthy list of KU, North Carolina, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Memphis, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Oregon, UCLA and Central Florida.
“They came and visited me right after the first session in April when they saw me play,” Todd said of KU coaches in an interview with Eric Bossi of Rivals.com from the weekend Pangos All-America camp in California. “(Bill Self) was just telling me that if I came there I could be one of the players with the highest ceilings to ever come to Kansas and he would help me reach the next level and prepare for the NBA. I kind of remind him of Josh Jackson a little bit when I’m at my best.”
Todd played well at the Pangos All-America camp last weekend in California.
“I continue to be impressed by the changes that Isaiah Todd is making with his game,” writes Bossi of Rivals.com from Pangos camp. “His energy at camp has been tremendous He appears to be having fun and when he’s locked in like he was on Saturday afternoon, good luck trying to stop him.
“The smooth and versatile 6-10 forward was draining deep jumpers from all around the perimeter and the series of dribble moves he was using to create space for them was downright scary for a guy his size. He’s filling out, he’s finding the blend between inside and out with his game and he’s realizing much of his vast potential.”
Hall has KU on list
Josh Hall, a 6-9 senior-to-be small forward from Moravian Prep Academy in Hickory, North Carolina, has KU on his list of schools, according to Rivals.com.
Hall is ranked No. 59 in the recruiting Class of 2020 by Rivals.
“Hall has been on the campuses of East Carolina (where his father Quincy Hall played for head coach Joe Dooley during his first stint as head coach), Wake Forest and N.C. State and they’ve all offered,” writes Bossi of Rivals.com. “He also mentioned Florida, Kansas, Pittsburgh, Providence, Rutgers and Texas as just a few of the many others who have offered and are chasing hard. More recently, North Carolina has expressed interest in keeping him home.”
KU listed as ‘winner’
Kansas’ 2019-20 basketball team was categorized as a “winner” by ESPN.com’s Jeff Borzello in a Thursday piece entitled, “Winners and losers of the NBA early-entry withdrawal deadline.”
KU point guard Devon Dotson removed his name from the 2019 draft pool in advance of Wednesday’s 10:59 p.m., deadline. Combo guard Quentin Grimes also lifted his name from the draft pool, but announced plans to transfer to a yet-to-be-determined school.
It had long been assumed Grimes would leave his name in the draft, electing to end his KU career after one year.
“It’s technically a mixed bag,” writes Borzello of ESPN.com. “Devon Dotson announced he was returning to school, while Quentin Grimes withdrew his name from the draft ... just to enter the transfer portal a short time later. But when R.J. Hampton (point guard recruit) chose to go to New Zealand instead of Kansas on Tuesday, it raised the importance of deadline day for Bill Self and the Jayhawks. And while no one expected Grimes to return and then transfer, it sort of went according to plan. Dotson will be one of the best point guards in the country and the expectation all along was that Grimes would be one-and-done.
“Self now has Dotson in the backcourt to go with Silvio De Sousa and Udoka Azubuike up front — that’s still a decent day,” Borzello adds.
Other programs labeled “winners” after Wednesday’s happenings: Louisville, Gonzaga, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio State, Seton Hall, Utah State, Florida, LSU, Xavier, Indiana and BYU. Programs that lost players and were labeled “losers:” Tennessee, Memphis, Auburn, Houston, North Carolina State, Washington and Georgia.
Lawson visits Sacramento
Former KU forward Dedric Lawson worked out for the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. He had some goals for the practice session.
“Just showing I can make the outside three, guarding multiple positions, being a good basketball player, trying to make the right decisions, not trying to do anything out of my comfort zone, just trying to make myself look the best I can,” Lawson told NBA.com.
He’s been enjoying the process of traveling to NBA cities to work out before teams’ front office officials.
“It represents a lot of hard work that you put in, playing grassroots to the collegiate level,” Lawson said. “Now it’s like a dream come true. A lot of guys don’t make it this far. I’m honored to be in this position to be able to go out there and showcase my talent in front of a great organization like the Sacramento Kings. I’m just blessed for the opportunity.”
Vick to work out for Knicks
Former KU guard Lagerald Vick, who worked out for the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, will work out for the New York Knicks on Monday, according to Ian Begley of SNY TV.