Asked what he likes about KU, Harris said: “How they develop their guards. They make it to the league.”
KU recruiting prospect Dajuan Harris of MOKAN Elite faring well at Peach Jam tourney
Dajuan Harris, an under-the-radar recruiting prospect who was offered a scholarship by Kansas on Tuesday, had a near triple-double Thursday at Nike Peach Jam in North Augusta, South Carolina.
Harris, a 6-foot-1 recent graduate of Columbia’s Rock Bridge High School, scored 13 points, dished 10 assists and grabbed nine rebounds in MOKAN Elite’s 71-70 loss to AOT Running Rebels (of Georgia). The game was contested in front of several college coaches, including coaching staff members from KU.
“It was a sensational performance on the biggest stage in grassroots (basketball),” Evan Daniels of 247sports.com wrote after the game. “The wiry lead guard impressed with his passing ability, vision and creativity off the dribble. He also excelled on the defensive end, where he made things difficult on Sharife Cooper, one of the best point guards in the country.
“His pinpoint passes off the live dribble and his decision-making when he drove particularly stood out,” Daniels added.
Harris also contributed three steals and two blocks and took three charges on defense in the narrow defeat.
“He penetrated at will and set up teammates for one wide open shot after another and could have easily had 15 assists if his teammates were hitting. Missouri State’s loss is going to be somebody else’s gain as he looks like a guy destined to move up the rankings and has gotten increased interest from hometown Missouri, Texas and an offer from Kansas earlier this week,” Eric Bossi of Rivals.com wrote Friday.
On Wednesday, Harris scored four points with seven assists against two turnovers in MOKAN Elite’s 80-62 tourney-opening win over Mean Streets (of Illinois).
“Been extremely impressed with 2020 prospect Dajuan Harris here at Peach Jam,” Daniels wrote on Twitter. “Tough, competitor at the lead guard spot. Terrific passer/vision & a scrappy defender.”
Harris recently asked out of his letter-of-intent with Missouri State and decided to move from the recruiting Class of 2019 to the Class of 2020, where he’s ranked No. 136 by Rivals.com. He’s currently enrolled at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas for the 2019-20 school year. That could conceivably change if he elects to return to the Class of 2019 and enroll at a college in coming weeks.
“I have an offer from KU. That means a lot,” Harris told 247sports.com Thursday. In fact, he made an unofficial visit to KU in late June. “I talked to Texas the other day, still talking to Missouri State, talked to Mizzou.”
He’s also heard from Tulsa and Nebraska.
“I have to take some classes this summer, through July and August,” Harris told Rivals.com. “I’d like to go 2019 but I’ll go to Sunrise if I need to.”
Davis scores 35 points
R.J. Davis, a 6-0 senior-to-be point guard from Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, N.J., who was offered a scholarship by Kansas on June 30, exploded for 35 points Thursday in his first game in front of college coaches at the Peach Jam.
Davis, the No. 104-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2020 by Rivals.com, also grabbed 10 rebounds, dished four assists and had two steals in New York Renaissance’s victory over Expressions Elite (of Massachusetts).
He scored 14 points with five assists and four rebounds in Wednesday’s 89-70 loss to Boo Williams (Virginia).
Davis has an early recruiting list of KU, Texas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, Villanova, UCLA, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Marquette, Georgetown, UConn, Seton Hall, Cal, Nebraska and others.
“Once Peach Jam is over, then I’ll start to narrow things down with my family and see what schools to visit and what not,” Davis told Zagsblog.com on Thursday.
“It feels amazing to know that my hard work is paying off, that schools are starting to pick up interest in me,” he added. “So it’s an amazing feeling to play out here at a competitive, high level.”
Todd plans on visiting KU
Isaiah Todd, a 6-10 senior-to-be forward from Trinity High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, will visit Kansas during the upcoming school year, he told 247sports.com on Thursday at Peach Jam.
He already has visited Maryland and Oklahoma State.
“I’m going to schedule something for Kentucky, but I’ll be going to Kansas in the fall,” Todd, the country’s No. 13-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2020, told 247sports.com.
His list of 10: KU, Kentucky, Maryland, OSU, UCLA, Memphis, UCF, Vanderbilt, North Carolina and Oregon.
“The coach came to North Carolina and we did a home visit right after the first session,” Todd said of KU coach Bill Self. “He was just telling me how good I could be and that he was going to help me reach my potential, and just hearing that from a great coach was enough for me to go check out the campus at least.”
KU in running for Barnes
Scottie Barnes, a 6-8 senior-to-be power forward from University School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ranked No. 6 in the recruiting Class of 2020 by Rivals.com, told Matt Norlander of CBSsports.com he’s being recruited heavily by KU, Oregon, Ohio State, Miami and Florida State.
Oregon is considered Barnes’ current favorite. He also has Kentucky and Duke on his list.
Barnes in his first game at Peach Jam scored 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting with six rebounds and five assists in Nightrydas Elite’s 100-90 win over Mac Irvin Fire (of Chicago) on Wednesday. He had 20 points and 13 rebounds in Thursday’s 72-71 victory over Team WhyNot (of California). Also he had eight points and six rebounds in Thursday’s 69-64 loss to All Ohio Red. Nightrydas Elite is based out of Florida.
“Although Barnes projects as a wing, he spent much of the game (against Mac Irvin Fire) as the point guard and primary ballhandler,” writes Orion Sang of the Detroit Free Press. “He was an excellent distributor, with several flashy passes that didn’t count as assists because of missed layups, turnovers or fouls.
Lance Ware on KU radar
KU has scouted Lance Ware, a 6-9 senior-to-be forward from Big Picture Learning Academy in Camden, New Jersey.
Ware, the No. 52-ranked player in the Class of 2020 according to Rivals.com, has heard from KU, North Carolina, Clemson, Providence, Louisville, Auburn, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Ohio State, UConn, Virginia Tech and others.
He’ll likely slice his list to seven schools after Peach Jam.
“Ware isn’t an off-the-radar guy. He’s been well known for some time, but I received more phone calls asking for information about Ware than any other player over the course of the past few weeks,” said Eric Bossi of Rivals.com.
This story was originally published July 12, 2019 at 1:43 PM.